Lockdown
by Nice-one
Summary: Takes place after 2x03. Damon and Elena are locked up in the boarding house together after an ancient spell is released. How will these once upon a time friends cope? Final chapter is up! One chapter sequel can be found on my profile.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Don't sue.**

**A/N: Would you look at this? The first chapter of a real Delena story by me! I'm pretty excited about it, even though the plot is far from original. I just needed these two to be forced to be together. Pretty thin plot, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway. I'm not the most frequent of writers, so don't know how fast I'll update, but it'll happen. Promise.**

**Summary: Takes place after 2x03. Damon and Elena are locked up in the boarding house after an ancient spell is released. How will these once upon a time friends cope?**

-x-x-x-x-

**Chapter 1**

Elena very quietly made her way down the impressive stairs of the boarding house, checking from the corner of her eye for he-who-shall-not-be-named. She should've left the house with Stefan this morning when he left to hunt. That would've avoided all of this sneaking out. When she finally made it downstairs, she couldn't help but feel a little pleased with herself, knowing that even his vampire hearing hadn't been good enough to hear her, otherwise he would've showed up right in front of her in that incredibly annoying way by now. She tip-toed to the front door and was about to take the doorknob in her hand when the inevitable happened anyway. He was so close to her that she had to take a step back to stop their bodies from touching.

"Are my eyes deceiving me?" Damon asked with that amused tone in his voice.

"Damon." She sighed. "I'm in a hurry, okay? I have to get home and change clothes and I'm already late for school."

"I couldn't believe it when I heard you two come home last night. You haven't spend the night here since our little…incident. Probably in a failed attempt to avoid me. What's changed?"

"Nothing's changed."

"Yet you still try to sneak out without even saying goodbye to me. I'm hurt, Elena."

"You know where we stand, Damon. Will you just step aside? I really need to go."

"Well, I'm just going to take the fact that you feel safe enough to spend the night here, with me in the same house, as a first step in the right direction for us." Damon shrugged as he finally did what she asked of him and stepped aside.

"Don't." She warned him. "Like I said: nothing's changed."

Before Damon could respond to that, and she knew he would, considering his ever-present desire to have the last word, she felt a jolt of electricity go through her body when she took the doorknob in hand. The blast was forceful enough to send her flying through the air, bumping into Damon midway, who was standing between her and the back wall and the two of them landed against said wall with so much force, a big crack appeared in the middle of it. Elena's body had slammed into Damon's, making her landing a lot more softer than his, but still very uncomfortable. Damon groaned and Elena dared to open her eyes, realizing she was in his lap, her head resting on his chest. His arms moved and embraced her, startling Elena.

"You okay?" Damon's voice sounded as he carefully tried to sit up a little, holding on to her tightly.

"Yeah." She said softly. "You?"

"Nothing a nice massage won't solve." He answered, groaning as he moved his neck from left to right and obvious snapping could be heard.

She struggled to get out of his embrace and carefully got to her feet. "What happened? What was that?"

Damon tried to get up too, but was visibly struggling. Like some sort of reflex, Elena rushed to his side to assist him. She took him by the arm to lend him support, but immediately let go of him when he was standing up, fearing a typical Damon-comment about her rushing to his side. It didn't come though.

"Something or someone obviously doesn't want you to leave." Damon finally stated, eyeing the door.

"Like a spell?" Elena asked, frowning. "Who would do that?"

"I know only one witch. You?"

He stepped forward and walked over to the door with the intention to open it.

"Careful!" She managed to speak up, before another jolt of electricity seemed to take over the house. This time Damon was prepared though and he groaned, obviously in pain, but he didn't go flying backwards like Elena. He was forced to take a few steps back though, because of the impact of the jolt.

"Son of a…" He started, turning back to Elena. "I'm going to kill that little witch!"

"Why would Bonnie do this?" Elena spoke up. "She has no reason to do this. Why would she lock me up in a house with you?"

"Didn't we just agree that this was the first time you spend the night here in weeks? She probably had no idea you were here. She saw Stefan come out of the house this morning and figured this would be the perfect timing to lock me away forever."

"In your own gigantic house? Where Stefan lives too? That doesn't make sense, Damon, and you know it. If Bonnie wanted to do something like that she would've done it a long time ago and not in your own house, but probably in small, confined space, don't you think?"

Damon hesitated for a second, the anger still obvious in his face and posture. Elena could tell he was forcing himself to calm down.

"Then who did this?" He eventually asked, calmly.

"I don't know. We should try to find out. But it wasn't her, Damon. However, she might be the only one who can get us out of here."

Elena reached in the pocket of her jeans, praying the impact of the blast hadn't broken her phone. She was relieved to see it hadn't and immediately dialed her best friend's number, bringing the phone to her ear. From the corner of her eye she saw Damon pacing back and forth, every now and then walking up to different parts of the windows, touching them with one finger and swearing every time he got shoved backwards by the electric jolt.

"Stop that." She ordered him. "I think it's obvious we're locked in."

"There has to be a weak spot in here somewhere." Damon murmured, continuing his quest, eventually leaving the room to check the other windows and doors.

It was only then that Elena realized she wasn't hearing anything on her phone. She looked down at the screen and sighed in frustration. No reception. She held her phone up in the air and wandered through the large hallway. No luck.

"Just great." She whispered, hearing Damon's creative swear words from other parts of the house.

She followed where the swearing came from and entered the large living room.

"Damon, where's your phone? I don't have any reception."

Damon reached into his pocket and got out his phone, throwing it her way from the other side of the room, Elena barely catching it. He didn't even look up as he continued his useless attempt to find a weak spot in the electric shield.

"We're like kettle." Damon announced, annoyed. "Surrounded by electric fences."

Elena looked down at Damon's phone and sighed as she brushed through her hair with her free hand.

"No reception."

This caused him to look up. "What kind of freaky spell is this?"

"We'll just wait until Stefan comes back." Elena rationalized. "He probably can't come in, but we'll talk to him through the window and he'll get Bonnie to fix this. Let's just calm down, okay?"

"Oh, I'm calm, alright." Damon assured her, his appearance suggesting the opposite. "Calm and collected. Ready to very calmly kill whoever had the _nerve_ to lock us in here."

"I still don't understand who would…" Elena started, stopping mid-sentence as the obvious popped into her head. She looked up at Damon. "Katherine."

Their gazes locked and Damon seemed to consider this for a moment. "…This is not really her style. And you need a witch to perform this kind of spell…unless…"

"Unless what?" Elena asked, eagerly. She wanted to know who did this, even though it wouldn't solve anything. She figured she'd be calmer if she could put a face on who was responsible for this. The unknown was much scarier, even if that meant that the person who was responsible for this was her biggest nightmare; Katherine.

"There's are certain objects and artifacts that witches can curse. It's like locking a spell inside of it and the objects can be triggered into unleashing the spell." Damon explained. "Katherine could have an object like that, maybe Emily made it for her back in the day."

"..Okay…" Elena nodded, walking over to the couch and sitting down, contemplating this. "So it could be Katherine. But why?"

"Easy." Damon shrugged, walking over to her. "She wants Stefan and this keeps us out of her way."

"That's a bit too easy." Elena objected.

Damon nodded. "You're right. Like I said: not her style. Katherine would've been more…violent…about it. You know, get us out of her way by ensuring our gruesome deaths."

Elena shuddered involuntarily at Damon's words. Katherine scared the crap out of her.

"So…not Katherine."

"Not Katherine." Damon decided, arms crossed, a big frown appearing in his forehead.

Suddenly the sound of another electric jolt seemed to go through the house and Elena jumped up from the couch. She looked up at Damon.

"That wasn't one of us." She stated, as she hurried back into the large hallway and was just in time to see Stefan get back on his feet through the window.

"Stefan!" She called out, rushing to the window, stopping herself just in time from placing her hands on it.

Stefan walked up to the window with a confused look on his face. Elena saw he was saying something, because his mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear anything and didn't catch it.

"What's he saying?" Elena asked, turning around to face Damon who had followed her into the hallway.

"Not a clue." Damon shrugged carelessly.

"Come on, Damon! Don't tell me your vampire hearing doesn't work through one window."

"It should work, but it's not for some reason." He explained, obviously also surprised by this. "The spell successfully locked us out from the outside world. How's your sign language?"

For some reason Elena was a little relieved to see Damon had gone back to his teasing, unimpressed ways. While he annoyed her like this, she preferred this version of him over the angry, uncontrolled one. She hurried over to the big cabinet against one of the walls and got out some paper and a pen that she knew was in there.

"My sign language's a little rusty. My writing skills are as perfect as ever though." She told Damon as she started to write.

"Huh. Clever." He responded monotonously as he stood in front of the window, waving at his brother with his signature smirk plastered to his face.

Elena sighed when she saw this as she looked up. "Cut that out. There's nothing funny about this."

"There really isn't." Damon agreed. "But sometimes you've got to make the best out of a bad situation."

She walked back over to the window, pushing Damon aside a little as she held up the piece of paper.

_Locked in. Spell. Get Bonnie._

"So efficient with so few words." Damon remarked, sarcastically.

Stefan nodded though and mouthed something the locked up twosome easily caught. _Who did this?_

They shrugged simultaneously. Elena scribbled something else on the paper, then held it up again.

_Not Katherine._

"But a witch has to be involved in this." Damon spoke to Elena. "It's a strong spell. I must have been right about an object containing the spell. Any idea what it could be?"

Elena thought about this, suddenly remembering something. The thought caused her heart to stop beating for a second. Damon easily picked up on this.

"What is it?" He asked, feigning annoyance.

"I'll be right back." She announced as she turned around and ran up the stairs. Could it be?

She entered Stefan's bedroom and immediately walked up to the bookcases. This morning she'd been drawn to several silver little boxes standing on the shelves. She hadn't been able to contain herself and had opened a few, just to see if there was anything inside. She wasn't one to snoop around, but the boxes had been so pretty and shiny and she'd gotten curious. She reached out to the smallest box that she'd also opened this morning. She remembered the spark that went through her body when she had. She hadn't thought anything of it this morning, but unfortunately the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place now. She sighed. Had she caused this? Had her snooping around gotten them in trouble? She didn't allow herself to get into it as she rushed back down the stairs. She saw how Damon was still standing in front of the window, making weird faces.

"What are you doing?" She asked, stopping on the last step.

"Trying to play charades with my brother. He's no fun though. I already guessed what he's acting out: Dr. Seuss' The Grinch who stole Christmas, but he won't break character. Don't get me wrong, he's got the disapproving, angry look down to a tee and even added a sixth wrinkle to his brooding forehead, so _really_, the resemblance is uncanny, but it's my turn now and he insists on being the Grinch the whole time. I don't think he gets the rules."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Oh, me too. It's much better than me snapping and doing something rash out of frustration."

She ignored this last comment, realizing she'd almost forgotten about the 'incident' as he'd so lovingly called it earlier, in all the commotion.

"Could this be it?" She asked him instead, walking up to him, showing him the box.

"Katherine's jewelry box." Damon spoke up when he saw it and took the box from her. "You've been snooping around Stefan's room." He realized, mockingly.

"I opened it this morning and something happened. Could this have caused it?"

"This most certainly could've caused it. Emily must have locked a spell in there."

"So this box has been around since 1864, cursed and everything and nobody ever opened it?"

"Not until the lovely Elena Gilbert stepped in and decided to snoop around." Damon smirked, obviously pleased with this fact. "_You_ locked us in here, Elena. You know, if you wanted to spend time with me, you could've just asked. There was no need for something so drastic."

"It was an accident, okay? How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?"

"You were supposed to know that it's rude to go through people's stuff." He responded, turning back to the window and holding up the box for Stefan to see. "Your girlfriend's been snooping!" He practically yelled, as if that would make Stefan hear him, a smirk from ear to ear.

"He can't hear you."

"Oh, but I think he gets the message."

Stefan obviously understood what was going on. He turned his attention to Elena and mouthed something to her.

"I'm fine." She assured him, nodding.

Stefan focused on Damon and shot him a look.

"Oh! Was that a warning look by the one and only Saint Stefan? I'm shaking in my boots, little brother."

Stefan shook his head and mouthed something they couldn't miss: _I'll be back._

With that the youngest Salvatore turned around and ran off.

"There he goes. Our big hero." Damon stated, still smirking and amused by the whole thing, before turning to Elena. "So, looks like you and I are going to be stuck in here for a while. What are we going to do to pass the time?"

"This is a nightmare." Elena sighed, ignoring Damon as she walked back to the stairs and seated herself on one of the steps.

Damon walked over to her. "Wait. Let me get this straight: after everything you've been through these past few months, all the unsettling occurrences, the death and mayhem, you call being locked up in a gigantic house with yours truly a nightmare? Really, Elena? Are you ever going to be done with kicking me when I'm already down?"

"I'm not saying this to hurt you." She spoke up, looking right at him. "I can just think of more fun things than this, Damon."

"But a nightmare? Really? Pretty strong word don't you think? You couldn't think of a word a little more mellow?"

"Oh, nightmare _was_ the mellow choice." She assured him, getting up again so they were face to face. "The death and mayhem were _hell,_ Damon. So yes, nightmare is the only correct choice of words here. I'm stuck in a gigantic house with an evil vampire who killed my little brother. I think you should be pleased that only qualifies as a nightmare in my messed up life."

She turned around and started to head up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Damon called after her.

"This is not a nice gathering of two friends." She told him, turning around. "We're not going to sit together and have meaningful conversations or play silly games. We might be stuck in here _together,_ but it really_ is_ a gigantic house and if I'm lucky I won't even have to see you until the spell is lifted. I'll be upstairs, taking a shower and doing some studying."

"Fine. Do whatever you want." Damon agreed, shrugging.

"Thank you."

With that she disappeared up the stairs.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: There it is! The first chapter. Please drop me a few lines to let me know what you think and if you'd like to see this continued. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.**

**Steffanie**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Don't sue.**

**A/N: Oh my! What an overwhelming response to the first chapter! You guys almost literally blew me away! I don't think I've ever gotten this many reviews on a single chapter before! I usually respond to the reviews I get and I fully intend to still do that, but I figured I'd use my time to write a bit more to this story first. Replies to your wonderful words will come later. Promise. Your kind words put a lot of pressure on me though. I'm terrified I might let you guys down and praying this won't happen. But the upside is that reviews motivate me like crazy and where I usually update every now and then, this update is faster than I've ever updated anything. So keep those reviews coming, please! Well, here's the next chapter. It's got some parts I'm satisfied with, but also some parts I don't particularly like. But this is the best it'll get, so I figured I'd upload it. **

**I'm sort of struggling with Damon and Elena's current relationship in this story. I personally don't really love Damon when he's trying too hard to win Elena back. I adore his vulnerable side, but I don't want him to act like a lovesick puppy, hence me literally using that word in this chapter. And I also don't like when Elena's too tough on Damon. I get it, he did something unforgivable, but I just don't like bitchy Elena, even though I do like her with an edge to her. So I'm trying to find a balance between them needing each other and acting civil since they've only got each other while they're locked up and their current strained relationship. Hopefully you'll be able to catch that in this story. It's not easy for me, I'll admit that much.**

**Well, enjoy! Hopefully!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 2:**

Elena buried her face in the pillow, silently screaming inside of it, before pulling the blankets over her head. How long was this going to last? The loud rock music had now successfully given her a terrible headache and she'd started on the same page of her history book for the 37th time now. She wasn't sure if she was imagining the bed trembling under the heavy bass tones of the music or if this was actually the case. She groaned, before throwing back the blankets.

"Damon!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, even though she was well aware he'd be able to hear her too if she'd only whispered. "I'm trying to study here!"

There came no response in words, instead the music became even louder in a matter of seconds as he obviously turned it up. If she hadn't hated him before, she sure hated him now. She groaned in frustration, before throwing her book aside and lifting herself off the big bed, exiting the bedroom.

She walked down the stairs and was confronted with a dancing Damon, making his way through the hallway and living room, his shirt buttoned down and a glass of scotch in his hand. The music was nothing short of deafening this close to the radio and Elena wondered how he could stand it with his sensitive vampire hearing.

"Damon!" She yelled out again, seriously pissed off by now.

He looked up, pretending he hadn't heard her come down the stairs. He danced over to the radio and turned it down to an acceptable volume as he gave her a questioning look.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes. I'm trying to study! What are you even doing?"

"Dancing." He shrugged, taking a sip from his scotch. "Reliving the last time I was stuck in this place. Also with a pretty girl, I might add. She was _way _more fun than you. Didn't end so well for her though."

"Is that a threat?" Elena asked, crossing her arms at those words.

"Well, I figured a vague disclaimer wouldn't help either one of us. I'm just saying that you could stand to be a _little_ nicer to me, considering you're well aware of my bad temper and there's no way for you to know how much blood I have left in the fridge. My supply could be running low and I might get real hungry, real soon."

"You're not scaring me, Damon. I'm not some random girl you picked up on the streets."

"All the more reason to be a little scared, Elena. Unlike those random girls, you actually know what I'm capable of." He winked.

"You're not going to hurt me."

"The important thing is _you _believe that." He responded, unimpressed, turning back to the radio, ready to turn up the volume again.

"Can we just…" She started to speak up, stopping mid-sentence as Damon looked up, his hand already touching the radio.

"Yes, Elena? Can we just…?"

She sighed, dreading the words she was about to say. "Can we just call it truce? For now? We're obviously going to be stuck here for a while and we might as well as the very least be a little bit more considerate. Stay out of each other's hair?"

"Ah, that's already a lot more civil. That's all I asked for. Is there anything you want to ask me now?"

"…Could you please keep the music to an acceptable volume so I can study?"

"Absolutely." Damon replied, smirking. "Not a problem."

"Thank you." She said, before turning around and heading back up the stairs.

-x-x-x-x-

"Come on, Elena!" Damon called upstairs. "I can hear your stomach growling from down here! It's annoying! Don't be so stubborn and get your butt down here!"

She rolled over on the bed, really not in the mood for Damon's company. Yes, she was hungry, but she could still stand it. She'd just postpone the inevitable for a little bit longer.

"Elena!" Damon almost sang. "You know, I'm getting pretty hungry myself, but I'm not going to eat until you do. And when I'm hungry I get cranky. So stop putting yourself in unnecessary danger and get down here!"

She finally realized he wasn't going to give up and dragged herself out of bed. She brushed through her hair, before heading downstairs. He was waiting for her with a proud grin on his face.

"Wipe that smirk of your face." She murmured. "And what happened to calling truce? That last one was a threat right there."

"Nah. Just my teasing ways you should be used to by now." Damon shrugged.

"Has Stefan come back yet?"

"You don't think I would've told you sooner if he had?"

The twosome walked into the kitchen.

"But we need to work out a system though." He continued, turning to the refrigerator. "I'm the one downstairs who has to keep an eye on the window at all times. Am I the only one who thinks that's a little unfair? My neck's getting stiff."

"Fine." Elena responded, seating herself at the counter. "We'll switch. You'll go upstairs, I'll stay here and keep an eye on the window."

"Oh, I didn't say I wanted to go upstairs. I just said I didn't want to have to keep an eye on the window the entire time."

"Really? You were keeping an eye on the window while dancing like an idiot earlier?"

"What can I say? I'm great at multitasking." Damon shrugged. "What are you in the mood for?"

"What do you have? I haven't been here in a while."

"Yes, we established that earlier. Still curious to find out what caused your change of heart to spend the night here though. I'll make us some eggs and bacon. With a side of college girl for those interested." He decided as he got out the eggs and bacon and turned to the stove.

"There was no change of heart." Elena answered his question. "I just figured there was no reason to not spend the night here. We both know where we stand and I think we've also already established that I'm not scared of you. Can you make my eggs…"

"Scrambled." He finished for her, turning to her and smirking at her surprised look. "You might not like it, but I still know you, Elena. This is hardly the first time I've fixed you breakfast after you spend the night here. Things were a lot less tense then though."

"Well, don't you think circumstances have changed since then?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow as she hopped off her seat and got a glass out of one of the cupboards. "You want some juice?"

"Just college girl for me, thanks."

She rolled her eyes, but got out another glass and opened the fridge nonetheless. She was a little relieved to see there were still over a dozen bags of blood stuffed in there. She hadn't lied before, she wasn't afraid of Damon, but she knew they were in trouble if he was really running out of blood.

"Which one is college girl?" She asked, sarcastically.

"There's no way of knowing. The hospital doesn't label them that thoroughly, which is a pity. They usually just stick to the blood type. But I'd like to pretend, come up with a little back story for the person I'm drinking. Just take your pick."

She made a face as she grabbed the first bag in sight.

"Don't spill it on yourself." He warned her. "I might have to lick it off you."

She recognized the teasing tone in his voice, but was seriously repulsed by his words. This disappeared quickly though as the pleasant smell of eggs and bacon filled up the kitchen. She placed the glass of blood on the table, a disgusted look on her face. A glass had been a bad idea. Something less see-through would've worked better. Damon noticed the expression on her face and stepped forward, taking the glass from the table and throwing it down like it was a shot of tequila, finishing it to the last drip.

"No need to get squeamish." He smirked, placing the empty glass back on the table.

"It's not the blood itself. I've gotten disturbingly used to that by now. It's the fact you actually drink it."

"To each their own, right?"

Elena sipped her juice (orange juice, not anything red) and nodded slowly. "I guess."

"You want toast with the eggs and bacon?"

"I'll make it." She offered, already reaching for the toaster, but Damon stopped her midway, slowly wrapping his hand around her wrist.

"I got it." He assured her.

Elena was startled by his sudden touch. For some reason touching Damon had never been easy, but it was even more difficult now, knowing they weren't in that place. She quickly retracted her arm and went back to her seat, looking down at her feet, shrugging off the uncomfortable feeling.

"Oh, come on. I can't even touch your arm anymore?"

"You haven't answered my question yet." Elena ignored his question. "Don't you think the circumstances have changed?"

"Of course the circumstances have changed. You've made that very clear in that very definite 'you've lost me forever'-way." He answered, recalling her words in an almost mocking way that irritated Elena.

"Look, Damon. I can see that you're trying. And I'm trying too. To make this go as civil as possible, but…you need to understand that if I'd had a choice in this you and I never would've been together in this kitchen eating breakfast together ever again. But I _don't_ get a choice in it today and I'm trying to make the best of it."

"Make the best out of a bad situation." Damon nodded, repeating his own words from earlier that morning, still working on the food.

"Exactly."

"Getting through this _nightmare_." He continued, a little bitter.

"Don't do this. Truce, remember?" She sighed.

"Oh, I remember." Damon assured her, turning to her with the pan and carefully dividing the food over the two plates Elena had placed on the table. "You're the one who has to keep bringing up how much you don't want to be here. I got it the first time around and the second time around: I've lost you forever."

He sat down across from her and handed her a fork, immediately digging into the food. Elena contemplated his words for a second, not eating just yet. She couldn't help but feel bad. It was a completely irrational feeling, knowing she was completely entitled to feel what she was feeling, but it still wasn't easy.

"But I'm not a love-sick puppy, Elena." Damon continued as he swallowed the first bite. "I'm not being nice to you to get back in your good graces. We're done forever, I get it. So I am too, trying to make the best out of a bad situation. So don't ever confuse my being nice to you for anything else ever again. You're right: we both know where we stand and I owe it to myself. So when we get out of here, you don't have to be worried. I've tried to make this up to you and you've made it very clear that I can't, so that's it then. I'm not a love-sick puppy who's going to follow you around and grovel and beg for the rest of his life. I've tried that bit for almost a hundred and fifty years and I only realize now that I don't like it and it won't get me anything. So we're done? Fine. I'll deal. But we're still stuck here together."

Elena looked down at her plate, unsure what to say, if anything, to this.

"I'm not going to be your enemy, Elena, unless you give me reason to. Not while we're in here and not after we get out." He concluded. "Now eat your food. It'll get cold."

She swallowed, before taking her fork steady in hand and taking a bite off her food. They continued to eat in silence.

-x-x-x-x-

"He should be back by now. What's taking so long?" Elena sighed, speaking to herself from the comfy armchair she'd very conveniently placed in the hallway, facing the window.

Damon entered the hallway at her words.

"Yep. I'd have to agree. Not a good sign."

"I can't believe I'm the one who locked us in here." She spoke, shaking her head. "We might never get out."

"Way to inspire the troops, Elena."

"I never snoop! I'm just not that curious. I don't know what got into me."

"That's one of the worst excuses I've ever heard in my undead life."

Damon walked over to the door and reached out his hand.

"Don't!" She warned him, sitting up in the chair in surprise, but it was too late and the by now familiar jolt of electricity went through the house, making Damon tumble backwards.

"Just checking." He recovered. "Problems really don't ever just go away, do they?"

"You need to stop doing that. You'll fry your brain or something."

"Are you worried about me?" Damon smirked, walking back up to her.

"You're deliberately hurting yourself. That's a little masochistic, don't you think?" She shot back, throwing him a look.

"It took you this long to figure out I'm a masochist? Pining away over a woman for almost a hundred and fifty years didn't tip you off?"

"You're telling me you enjoy pain?"

"Well, pain has a way of finding me, so you get used to it. To say I enjoy it might be a bridge too far."

"You're seeking it out." Elena spoke up, nodding towards the door. "You knew fully well the spell wasn't lifted."

"I was 99 percent sure. The spell could have a time span. Who knows. I had to check." He shrugged it off.

"Well, next time poke at it with a stick or something." Elena said.

"That's not a bad idea, actually."

Elena brought her hand to her forehead, tired from just sitting around the house all day doing nothing. It was almost getting dark now and she was getting slightly worried. What was taking Stefan and Bonnie so long? Suddenly Damon was by her side, taking her arm in his hand.

"What are you doing?" She spoke up, sitting straight.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing out to her arm.

She looked down and sighed. "You act like you've never seen a bruise before."

"Does it hurt?"

"It's just a bruise, Damon. I fell pretty hard this morning."

"I remember. Does it hurt anywhere else?"

"Stop it." She ordered him, taking back her arm. "I'm fine."

"How fine?" He pried.

"Slight headache from slamming into your chest and oh yeah, the obnoxiously loud music, a little stiff and probably bruised here and there."

"Define here and there." Damon ordered back.

"What are you doing? If I was seriously hurt, I'd tell you."

"Just show me."

"I don't even know. Everything pretty much hurts the same. Why the sudden interest?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, we're locked inside here. There's no doctor or even medical supplies. I'll dare you to find a single band aid in this place. If there is something wrong, you should tell me. I'm just trying to keep you out of harm's way, because if anything were to happen, you're pretty much doomed."

"Nothing's going to happen as long as _you _behave. I'm sitting in a chair in a house. I'll be fine."

"You could have a concussion."

"Which I won't die from. Would you stop with the concerned look? Everything's fine!"

Damon suddenly seemed to notice something from the corner of his eye and he disappeared out of her sight within the second. Elena looked around in confusion, before noticing him standing by the window and seeing Stefan's face on the other end. She pretty much threw herself towards the window, rarely having been this excited to see her boyfriend.

"Where's the box?" Damon asked as she joined him by his side and read the sign Stefan was holding up.

_Show us the box._

Elena got it from her pocket and held it up in front of the window. Suddenly Bonnie appeared next to Stefan, barely even acknowledging Damon and Elena as she investigated the box with an intense look on her face.

"Bonnie!" Elena exclaimed, obviously relieved.

Bonnie said something to Stefan who immediately started scribbling on the next piece of paper.

_Step back. _

Damon and Elena immediately complied, taking several steps back as they eagerly awaited Bonnie's next move. The young witch raised her arms towards the sky and, even though they couldn't hear her, obviously started chanting.

"Finally…" Damon almost growled. "I might hug her if she pulls this off."

"She'll kill you if you try." Elena answered, smiling at the anticipation of getting out of here.

"Was that a smile, Elena? Haven't seen that all day."

Her smile grew a little wider as Damon softly nudged her with his elbow.

"Too bad you're smiling at the prospect of getting the hell away from me." He added, teasingly.

"I'm smiling at the prospect of getting out of here. Don't take it personally." She offered him, giving him a quick look.

"And that's step two in the right direction." The older Salvatore smirked.

Suddenly the house started shaking, causing Elena to instinctively reach out to Damon's arm. It felt as if the house was going to fall apart as loud thunder surrounded them and flashes of light disoriented the couple. Damon pulled her back a few more steps as she practically buried her face in his shoulder, making herself as small as possible. She heard glass shattering around her.

"Now!" Bonnie's voice suddenly echoed through the house. "Don't know how long I can keep this up!"

"Elena!" Stefan yelled.

Elena opened her eyes and saw how a very clear portal had formed right in front of her.

"Go, Elena!" Damon also yelled, pushing her forward.

She almost lost her balance as she headed for the small portal, quickly regaining it as she saw how Stefan reached out his hands. She almost dove forward, locking her hands into his. Stefan started pulling her towards him as her feet dragged across the floor, the shattered glass leaving marks on her legs, but she didn't even feel it. She crawled closer to Stefan, her hands on his upper arms now, reaching for his neck, ready to throw herself around it. Then her surroundings became so bright it actually hurt her eyes, accompanied by a loud bang as she found herself flying the other way. She struggled mid-air to find Stefan's hands again, but failed. Then everything went black.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: Oh-oh! It's not looking good for our two heroes. ;-) Please drop me a few lines to let me know how I'm doing so far. Constructive criticism is welcome too. I like learning and growing as a writer! Just please keep in mind that English isn't my first language and I'm working with what I know. Thanks in advance! I'll be back!**

**Steffanie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Don't sue.**

**A/N: I still cannot believe that so many people are reading and loving this story! Again, such an overwhelming response in less than 24 hours! This is completely new to me, but I'm loving it to pieces and as you can tell, it's motivating me like crazy! The reviews are like a drug to me. I'll be going through serious withdrawal when this story is finished! ;-) Seriously. I've never gotten this many reviews on a chapter before and it's completely surreal! **

**Thank you for all the amazing reviews, especially those pointing out how they liked my portrayal of Damon, since his attitude is something I've been struggling with. I'm glad it came across like I wanted to. He can be vulnerable and he can admit that Elena has some sort of power over him, but I don't want him to follow her around like a lovesick puppy. I needed him to be stronger than that. **

**Well, the next chapter has arrived! I probably won't be able to keep up writing this fast and uploading every day, since I'll be going back to work next week and will have less time to write, but I don't see the point in finishing a chapter and then not uploading it right away. Right? Just know that updating within 24 hours will be close to impossible to keep up. I'll try though. Please keep motivating me! **

**Enjoy!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 3: **

She brought her hand to her head when she found herself waking up. She moaned softly as she realized how terrible the headache was that she was experiencing.

"Elena?" A voice sounded.

She carefully opened her eyes, finding the dim light of the living room already too bright. Nevertheless, she tried to sit up a little.

"What happened?" She murmured. "The portal…"

"That poor excuse for a witch wasn't strong enough." Damon almost spat out.

Elena now realized she was on the couch in the Salvatore boarding house, her head resting on a comfy pillow. Damon was sitting on the small edge of the couch, his hand on her arm, keeping her steady as she sat up a little more.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not too great." She admitted. "How's Bonnie?"

"Ugh. Who cares?" He dismissed the question. "She's useless. She's now claiming there's no way a witch can lift the spell and it has actually something to do with the person who unleashed the spell a.k.a. you. I call bullshit. She's just too weak."

"Well, what does that mean? I'm not a witch, I can't lift the spell." Elena objected.

"She's looking into it right now, but I'm not holding my breath. Even though I could. I'm starting to believe you and I are going to have to build a life for ourselves in here." He said, sarcastically.

"And Stefan?" Elena asked, removing Damon's hand from her arm as she comfortably rested back into the couch.

"He's just going to have to find a way to move on without you. He can still peek inside every now and then if he insists on torturing himself like that." The vampire smirked. "That would be a little kinky though. Voyeurism and all that."

"How's he _doing_?" Elena clarified, gently hitting Damon in the shoulder.

Damon hesitated a second as he looked at her. "He's waiting right outside the window like a loyal puppy to see with his own two eyes that you're okay."

Elena immediately started to make an effort to get to her feet and hurry to the window, but Damon stopped her.

"Hold on for a second! How are you feeling? Like really? Anything broken?"

"I'm okay." She assured him. "Nothing's broken. Just a headache."

"Your head slammed into the wall." Damon confessed. "I tried to break your fall and I'm sure I did for the most part, but you hit your head pretty bad. Are you nauseous at all?"

She really was.

"Nope!" She lied, trying to get up again. He pushed her down once again.

"Damon!"

"Your legs were bleeding pretty badly from the glass."

Elena looked down at her legs, not remembering any of that and not feeling anything out of the ordinary. She saw the blood stains in her jeans though and looked back up at Damon.

"I got rid of the glass splinters. It'll heal." He told her. "Nice legs, by the way."

She shot him a disapproving look. "Okay, I get it." She spoke. "I took a pretty bad fall and need to take things easy. But I just want to see Stefan, Damon. Please."

Damon sighed. "Fine. Go ahead."

She instantly got to her feet, naturally way too fast after having been down for so long and the room immediately started spinning. She reached out for support, finding it in the form of Damon's shoulder, who immediately stepped in and allowed her to lean on him.

"I'm going to need a little help." She admitted reluctantly.

"Knight in shining armor reporting for duty." Damon announced, smirking.

Now she was standing up, she felt a faint throbbing in her left ankle. She grimaced as they started to walk in the direction of the hallway.

"You okay?"

"My ankle." She explained. "I think it's a sprain or something. It's fine."

"Yeah, you're totally fine." Damon spoke sarcastically. "Can't stand up alone, let alone walk, but other than that perfectly fine."

"It's fine." She repeated.

"This all the witch's fault."

"Her name is Bonnie!" Elena spoke up. "And she tried, Damon. She tried to help us."

"She tried to help you, you mean." He corrected her. "If you'd gotten out she would've closed the portal and let me rot in here."

"Yet believing that, you still let me go first."

"Women and children first." Damon shrugged. "You decide which category you fall into."

Elena shook her head, still leaning heavily on him as they almost reached the doorway.

"You really think I would've let her do that?" She found herself asking.

Damon smirked. "You're warming up to me again, aren't you?"

"Not a chance." She immediately replied, her tone sharper than intended. "But I don't want you dead. I've showed you that before."

"Like I said: you're warming up to me again."

"Don't make me repeat myself. Again." Elena warned him, giving him a look, unsure if this was still witty banter or if she was damn serious about it.

"Yeah, yeah." Damon sighed. "I've lost you forever."

"It's not a joke, Damon." She told him, annoyed by the lightness in his tone.

"Oh, I know."

They finally entered the hallway and Elena's gaze immediately went to the window, searching for eye-contact with her boyfriend. The twosome stopped dead in their tracks.

"What the hell?" Damon spoke up.

Instead of the door, windows and wall, there was now nothing but black. Not even a black wall or anything tangible. Just black. Nothing. The edge of the world. Perhaps the end of it. Elena's eyes grew big.

"No…" She murmured. "This is…"

"The bitch made it worse!" Damon spoke up.

"How is this even possible?"

Damon lifted Elena off the floor as if she was light as a feather and quickly carried her over to the chair that was still in it's place in the hallway. She leaned on the chair as she turned around to look at Damon. He was gone now and she was able to see through the doorway into the living room where he was pulling open the curtains he'd probably closed to shield her from the last bit of bright daylight.

"Damnit!" He yelled as it revealed nothing. Literally.

He then disappeared out of sight as more curse words echoed through the house. She looked around, wondering where he was. She then saw him coming down the stairs. He immediately looked over at her.

"We have a problem." He simply stated. "…A _bigger_ problem."

"Even upstairs?" She asked, her voice cracking.

He answered her question with a simple nod. "We're in no man's land."

He disappeared out of her sight again, moving at rapid vampire speed. Then she heard glass shatter and more swear words. She closed her eyes. This couldn't be happening. And she did this. This was all her fault. And there was no way out now. No one to help them and nothing that could save them. She felt the panic growing inside of her, but forced herself to stay calm. There had to be a way. Had to be. This wasn't over yet. They were still breathing. As long as they were breathing, everything was going to be okay.

Then everything went pitch black around her, causing her to shriek. This was it. Now it was over. For real. Now everything had been sucked into no man's land. The edge of the world. The end of it. She closed her eyes, waiting for the unknown.

"Damon!" She found herself calling out, in one last attempt at…something.

"I'm here." He whispered, suddenly beside her, touching her arm.

She reached out to him and pulled him closer. She was scared and she needed somebody. Anybody. Even if it was him.

"It's just the lights." Damon tried to comfort her. "It's a black-out. No man's land must have forgotten to pay the electricity bill this month."

She breathed heavily, her heart racing. "Can you fix it?"

"Not with you clinging to me like this." He sighed, obviously a little annoyed. "I didn't take you as the kind of girl who was afraid of the dark."

"No, I just thought..." She started, unable to finish that sentence. What did she think anyway? That the world had gotten to an end? Their world anyway? She didn't know which words to use to explain her fears. "This sucks, Damon. And I'm so sorry. I did this…"

"Yes, you did." He agreed. "But let's not get over-dramatic right now. Let's calm down. Stefan and Bonnie are still out there, even though we can't see them right now. They'll get us out of here."

"You really think so?"

"No. But I was hoping you would." He sighed. "I'll be right back. See if I can get the lights back on."

"Please hurry." She pleaded, but he had vanished from her side before the words were out. She closed her eyes as she tried to hear him. How messed up was this situation? She was actually hoping to hear Damon and praying he'd return to her side soon. Damon. Of all people. But right now he was all she had.

"Jeez, Elena." His voice then echoed through the house. "I can hear your heart beating out of your chest from all the way over here. Not digging the damsel in distress –look on you to be honest."

"Would just shut up and hurry?" She said. "I'll calm down when I can actually see what's going on."

Suddenly the lights went back on and Elena had to squint slightly as she tried to get used to the brightness. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Your wish is my command." Damon said as he appeared next to her again. "That was easy. Really just a black-out. I guess this house isn't equipped for annoying magic like this."

"Well, what now?" Elena asked, her mind working overtime trying to come up with their next move.

"What do you mean what now? Now you go to bed. Sleep. Tomorrow's a new day."

"Stop bossing me around, Damon. You know I can't sleep now."

"Maybe not, but you're going to try anyway. You go upstairs and you're going to get some rest. I'll use that fried brain of mine to try to come with up a plan"

"Damon…"

"I'm serious, Elena. I'm not trying to boss you around, but you took two really bad hits today and you're going to need to be in one piece when we get out of here, otherwise Stefan will kill me, which I feel would be a pretty anti-climactic ending to our little adventure here." He spoke, tilting his head in that matter-of-fact way he'd mastered so well over the years.

Elena sighed. "…Fine…I'll be in Stefan's room."

"Close the curtains. Knowing the big, black nothing is there is already bad enough without seeing it too. I'll bring you up some aspirin and ice for that ankle in a minute." He offered.

"I thought you said there wasn't even a band aid in this house."

"I drink. Aspirin works wonders for a hangover."

"Got it." She nodded as she limped towards the stairs. Damon watched her with a frown on his face.

" You okay there?"

"Just peachy." Elena sighed as she started to climb the stairs. After the first few steps she turned around and looked at him. They locked eyes and Elena tried to find the words, but couldn't. She didn't want to say it. She wasn't okay and she wanted him to know that. She was worried and in pain and pretty much hated herself for putting them in this situation.

"Holler if you need me." Damon then spoke, giving her a quick nod.

She tried to suppress a smile as she looked down.

"Thanks."

-x-x-x-x-

She didn't know how long she'd been asleep when she found herself waking up. She was surprised she'd been able to sleep at all, without even a single bad thought haunting her dreams. In fact, even though she couldn't remember them, she felt they had been nice dreams and she smiled at the thought.

"You're welcome." A voice came from right next to her and she was startled as she almost jumped out of bed.

Damon was lying right next to her, on top of the blankets. He was only dressed in a pair of black jeans and was reading a book, not bothering to look up.

"What are you doing here? In my bed?" She spoke up, covering herself up with the blankets, feeling very self-conscious in her tank top and panties. "Why aren't you dressed? And why are you…wet?"

"Jumped in the shower just now, then remembered Stefan went through this phase a long time ago where he was taking a special interest in witchcraft. Figured he'd have books." Damon spoke, still not looking up, but raising the book a little as he emphasized the last word. "So to answer your other question as to what I'm doing here: this is an activity known to some as _reading_."

"And you didn't bother drying off or getting dressed?"

"I put on jeans, didn't I? Don't be such a prude, Elena."

She sighed as she leaned back on the pillows, deciding to ignore his last comment. "Anything in this book that'll help us get out of here?"

"Maybe. But my Latin isn't what it used to be."

"It's in Latin?" Elena frowned.

"Yep. I should've gone Ivy League at some point like my brother. You want to give it a try?" He said monotonously as he tossed the book her way and got up from the bed. "There's something I want to show you downstairs when you're dressed."

"Good news?" She pleaded.

"Bad news." He crushed her hope. "But I guess there's an upside to it. Sort of. Just come and see."

He headed for the door and Elena watched him walk away, frowning. She sat up a little.

"What did you mean when you said: you're welcome?" She then dared to ask.

Damon turned around and smirked. "You had nice dreams, didn't you?"

"What did you..?" She asked, startled at his words as her hand went to her neck where she didn't find her comforting necklace. She looked around the room.

"On the nightstand." Damon told her. "Just put it back on."

"You were in my head?"

"You were tossing and turning like crazy last night. Figured I'd help you sleep easier. And the smile on your face when you woke up said it all." He winked.

"I don't even remember any of it." She objected defensively, fearing the worst. "What did you make me dream?"

"Let's just say that should it ever come to that I've got a pretty good idea about what you like in the boudoir. Or should I say: _who_ you like?"

Elena grabbed a pillow and threw it his way as he easily caught it. "Damon! What did you do?" She asked in complete disgust.

"Relax." Damon sighed as he effortlessly threw the pillow back on the bed. "It was Stefan. I made you dream about Stefan. And nothing dirty. There was sunshine and rainbows involved. Even a fluffy bunny or two at the risk of Stefan mistaking them for dinner. I was hoping it'd calm you down."

The faint memory of the dream filled her head again, almost making her smile again. She looked back up at Damon.

"Thank you." She said truthfully. "But stay out of my head from now on."

" I'll see you downstairs. Bring the book. I might give it another shot after breakfast."

She nodded and with one last smirk Damon left the room.

-x-x-x-x-

They were both on their knees where the door and windows used to be in the hallway. Damon took a pen steady in hand, then threw it over the edge into the black.

"What did it do?" Elena asked, frowning. "It didn't look like it fell."

"That's what I thought too. It just disappeared." Damon nodded.

"Where to?"

"If you want to find out I could give you a little push."

"Not funny." She told him, giving him a warning look.

"I don't know where it goes."

"So this is the bad news?"

"Nope." Damon said, sitting up a little. "That was just an observation. The bad news is that I did a little measuring and the black is closing in on us."

"What?"

"It moved about half an inch in on us since last night. Upstairs too."

"Oh my God."

"The upside would be that half an inch is practically nothing and while math is not my strong point, I'd say that still gives us months, until we completely disappear."

"You call that an upside?"

"Well, it means we won't die anytime soon. I figured that was a plus. Although…"

"Although what?"

"We definitely don't have enough food in here to keep us alive for months. So I was thinking you should stick to the human food from now on and I'll stick to…well, also human food, but the more literal kind."

Elena got up, closing her eyes for a second. "This is bad, Damon. This is really bad. We still don't have a clue how to get out of here and…I just don't know how we're ever going to…"

"Don't freak out." Damon ordered her as he got up too and took her arm in his hand. "Freaking out isn't going to help us."

"But we're not doing anything! We're just sitting here, waiting…for…nothing. Hoping that Stefan and Bonnie figure out a way to get us out of here, which we both know is very unlikely, otherwise they would've done it by now."

"We still have the book." Damon reminded her.

"Which is in Latin. We don't know Latin!"

"No, I said my Latin isn't what it used to be. I'll give it another shot. Come on." He assured her as he gently held her by the arm and guided her towards the living room.

"How can you stay so calm?"

"Well, you're enough drama queen for both of us, aren't you? We're not in any immediate danger. We'll figure it out."

"I hope so…"

-x-x-x-x-

Elena observed him from her comfortable spot on the couch, holding on to her steaming cup of coffee. He was completely caught up in the book, occasionally scribbling something on a piece of paper. She was feeling extremely useless right now, frustrated that there really wasn't anything she could do. She cleared her throat.

"…How do you know the black won't start moving in faster as time goes?"

"I don't." Damon replied, writing something down again.

"So, we're just hoping for the best?"

He looked up for a second. "Isn't that the theme of this whole thing? Making the best out of a bad situation?"

She sipped her hot coffee as she considered this. She was seriously uncomfortable with still having so many questions and not knowing a damn thing about the spell and how it worked. From the corner of her eye she saw how Damon picked up Katherine's jewelry box and opened and closed it with one hand.

"You know, there's one thing that bothers me." He then spoke, looking up at her.

"Oh, you're actually bothered by something?" Elena asked, sarcastically. "Color me stunned."

"You raised an interesting question yesterday. Stefan's had this box since 1864. It is very unlikely he hasn't opened it _once_ in those years."

"What are you saying?" She asked, sitting up and placing the mug of coffee on the glass table in front of her, intrigued by his words.

"This book mentions something, assuming I translated it correctly, about how it doesn't necessarily have to be a physical action that triggers the spell."

"I didn't do anything other than open and close it." Elena clarified. "And what other than a physical action could possibly trigger it?"

"I don't know yet. Perhaps it has something to do with your ties to Katherine? Considering this is her jewelry box?" He theorized. "Ugh. That bitch would be having the day of her life if she knew the situation she unintentionally put us in."

Elena got up from the couch. "I'm just going to check the hallway. Make sure it's still…well, there."

Damon nodded quickly before he went back to his notes and the book, a frown that she recognized from his brother decorating his face. She figured it'd be best not to point out the similarity out loud. She then realized she'd never seen Damon this serious for this long before. He seemed really dedicated to getting to the bottom of this and she admired him for it. They were on their own, no witches or other vampires to help them and instead of freaking out at this unnerving thought, he went to work and tried to solve it.

"If we get out of here, I'm assuming you learned a new life lesson?" Damon then spoke as she almost exited the living room.

"What life lesson?" She asked, turning around, still finding him with his nose in the book

"No more snooping."

She chuckled. "Got that right. Although more specifically: no more snooping in houses occupied by supernatural beings."

"All I'm asking."

She smiled to herself as she turned back to the doorway.

"How's your ankle?" He then asked.

"Better."

"Good."

She took a deep breath. "You just said if."

"What?" Damon asked, looking up for the first time now, but Elena didn't see it as her back was turned to him.

"You just said: _if _we get out of here. Yesterday you kept saying 'when'."

"Unintentional." He immediately replied so she almost believed it. "We will get out of here, Elena. Both of us. We'll be just fine."

She nodded slowly. "Okay."

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: You know, to be honest with you, when I wrote the first chapter I really intended the plot to be: Elena accidentally curses them, they get locked up, have a few chapters of fun and forgiveness and then Bonnie lifts the spell. I just needed an excuse to have these two forced to spend time together. But it's slowly developing into something more and a little darker with a bigger idea behind all of it and I have no idea if it's any good, since I've never written about the supernatural before (well, I've written Damon/Elena before, but that was focused on them and not on the supernatural occurrences). So please, let me know what you think. I really take your opinions into consideration and might use them to alter things in the upcoming chapters. Thanks again. I'll try to be back soon!**

**Steffanie**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Don't sue.**

**A/N: Another update! Silly me. I've been writing pretty much non-stop for days now, almost forgetting to sleep and eat, just relieved that I'm finally inspired again. I owe it all to your wonderful reviews and opinions. This is a pretty dark chapter, which wasn't easy to write. But I'm promising you now that it won't stay this way. Despite everything they'll be able to have some fun in the upcoming chapters. **

**Thanks for sticking by me through all of this and for encouraging me like you all are. I've said it before, but this is all completely new to me and I have never written anything like this ever before, so this is me experimenting with it and I feel like I'm walking on a ****tightrope, trying to stay on it and sometimes easily finding balance, but still capable of falling off at any second. You guys can tell me if I'm still on that rope and on the right track! ;-)**

**And most of all, thank you to those who complimented me on how I write Damon! That means the world to me. He's difficult to write in all his contradictions and I'm glad I seem to have gotten the hang of it. He's fun to write though and I guess if I could just express my biggest wish and dream to you, it'd be that someday I could write a witty one-liner for Damon to use on the actual show. Haha. A girl can dream, right?**

**Well, enjoy! And I'll be back!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 4:**

Elena headed up the stairs to get her diary from her backpack. After all, she really had something to write about this time. She entered the bedroom and decided to ignore the fact that a small edge of the big, black nothing was now visible from underneath the closed curtains. It was moving in on them, alright. She reached into her pack and clutched her diary to her chest as she practically ran down the stairs again. She wasn't sure what it was, but she needed to be near Damon now. Just his presence was oddly comforting to her. She was about to walk back into the kitchen when from the corner of her eye something got her attention. She stopped dead in her tracks when she realized what was going on. In the corner of the hallway were several twigs and pebbles almost neatly presented on the floor. Elena frowned as she placed her diary on the bottom step of the stairs and headed over to the unexpected objects on the hallway floor. She leaned over and took some of the twigs in her hand, looking around, trying to find an explanation as to where they came from. There wasn't one. It didn't make sense. She kneeled down and then stared right ahead of her, straight into...nothing.

"Damon!" She immediately called out and he appeared right next to her in a matter of seconds.

"What's going on?" He asked, a worried look on his face.

She opened her hand to him and showed him what she'd found. Damon took a twig from her open hand and investigated it.

"Where did this come from?"

Elena nodded to the black nothing that was ahead of her. "There's no other explanation. We only threw the pen down into the darkness, but maybe there's something on the other side..."

Damon only hesitated for a single second, before throwing the twig with some force against the invisible black wall. Like expected the twig disappeared. The twosome looked at each other in wonder and anticipation. They didn't have to wait long as on their right several pebbles and twigs landed on the hallway floor.

"Oh my God." Elena mumbled as she got to her feet in amazement. "There's something on the other side, Damon. Someone! It could be Stefan!"

She quickly ran over to the pebbles and twigs, took them in hand and threw them into the darkness again.

"Calm down, Elena...we need to be sure first." Damon rationalized, still standing in place.

Then another twig landed on the floor on the other side, this time with a piece of paper attached to it. Damon was intrigued enough to walk over and pick up the twig. He unfolded the piece of paper and quickly scanned over the words, before handing it over to Elena who had by now joined him.

_Elena, that you? Are you alright?_

"It's him, Damon. It's Stefan. This is his handwriting!" Elena declared excitedly, barely able to hide the grin on her face. She then ran into the living room, getting out Damon's notepad and pen. She enthusiastically started writing. It only took her a minute, then she ripped the paper off the notepad and showed it to Damon.

_Yes, it's us. We're both perfectly fine. How are you? Did you and Bonnie find out more about the spell?_

He attached the note to the twig by just sticking it on top of it. He then threw it again and turned to Elena who was all but bouncing up and down in exciting. He reached out to her and placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

"I know you want to believe this is really him, but we can't be sure, Elena. It could be a trick. The spell could be doing this."

"But maybe it's really him." Elena spoke, her voice filled with hope. "It could be him, Damon."

He nodded reluctantly, taking back his hands and sighing. Elena watched him and knew he was right to be suspicious about this, but right now this was all the hope she had on getting out of here and she was going to hold on to it until she was proven wrong.

This time Damon caught the twig as it returned and he immediately pulled off the note. As he unfolded it, he leaned in to her so she could read it too.

_The spell is still a mystery. You two are going to have to jump. We're getting a long stick to check the distance first. We'll hold on to it on this side, take it if you see it. _

"...I don't know about this." Damon stated, crossing his arms as Elena took the note from him and investigated it thoroughly.

"It's him, Damon. I can feel it."

"Yeah, that's great, but I'd like some tangible proof first. We don't know how this barrier works. That it sends through pebbles and twigs is one thing, but a human being..."

"We'll wait for the stick first." Elena agreed. "That's already bigger than pebbles and twigs. If that works, I say it's worth the risk. We have no other option, Damon."

He hesitated for a second, then he gave Elena quick nod as their eyes locked and she couldn't hide her relief. She had a feeling things we're going to be okay now. Stefan was nearer than she thought and just knowing that already made her feel better.

"This is going to work." She assured him, looking at him. "It really is."

"I hope so."

-x-x-x-x-

Almost fifteen minutes had passed when another twig with a note landed on the floor. Elena ran over to it and immediately read it.

_It's not working. We'll figure out another way, promise. Bonnie is working on it. Be careful. Be safe. _

"No..." Elena mumbled, her last hope being crushed. "...no..."

Damon read the note over her shoulder and shook his head. "Does that sound like Stefan to you? He would've jumped to try and save you, Elena. Stick or no stick."

"And risk getting killed?" She shot back, annoyed by his doubts. "No, he wouldn't. That's more your style."

He nodded slowly and appeared to be in thought for a second. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Elena frowned at his words, not understanding what he meant, until she saw how Damon took a few steps back, completely focused on the darkness ahead of him. Then it hit her. As he made his way to the edge, ready to take that literal leap of faith, Elena's mouth opened in surprise and horror.

"No!" She exclaimed, stepping in just in time, causing Damon to have to stop right before jumping. She placed a firm hand on his chest.

"Elena..." He sighed.

"No! You can't do this! You can't leave me here, Damon! We'll go together." She pleaded with him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Absolutely not! I don't trust this one bit, Elena. But it is our only option, so I'll go check it out. I'm not risking getting us both killed!"

"Well, I'm not risking getting you killed!" She objected, lowering her hand and turning her head away from him, embarrassed about the tears she was no longer able to just blink away. "Let me jump! I put us in this situation, Damon! I should do it."

"We don't know how far it is. I need to do this." He explained, reaching out to her hand and taking it in his, bringing it to his chest again. "And if it's Stefan on the other side, I'll come right back and get you."

"And if it isn't Stefan?" She asked, finally turning back to him and looking him right in the eye.

"...I'll be back. I promise. I'm not going to leave you here."

He leaned in and his lips softly brushed against her forehead. Then, before Elena fully realized what was happening, Damon had turned away from her and as she turned around, she was just in time to see him disappear in the darkness.

"Damon!" She yelled as loudly as she could, her voice echoing through the gigantic house, before dying out and leaving her in complete silence.

She kept staring at the spot where he had just disappeared as she started to sob uncontrollably. He had to come back. He had to. She couldn't stay here by herself. She wouldn't. She tried to think straight and remember how long it had taken for them to exchange notes. It had only been seconds. If Stefan was on the other side, Damon had to be back in a few minutes at the most. She wiped away her tears, trying to control her sobbing, telling herself over and over again that Damon would be right back. He'd come back and get her and this whole nightmare would be over.

Then, as unexpectedly as everything that had happened before, the house started shaking again. Elena looked around in terror, trying to keep her balance. She was just in time to take a step back as she realized the black was now moving in on her at an incredible speed. She shrieked in surprise and fear, taking more and more steps back, still thinking straight enough to head backwards towards the doorway that would lead her into the living room. She managed to turn around and stumbled towards the doorway, the house still shaking and the darkness right behind her as if trying to catch her. She held on to the wall as she entered the living room and then everything went quiet again. She turned back around, expecting the darkness to swallow her any second now, but was relieved to see it had stopped moving. She was breathing heavily as she leaned her back against the wall, facing the living room again. Pretty much half of it had disappeared and had been swallowed by the big, black nothing. She turned her head to the left and saw the hallway had disappeared too, only a small edge left that led to the stairs. She closed her eyes in desperation, resisting the urge to just scream at the top of her lungs, before slowly allowing herself to slide down the wall and sit down on the floor. She buried her face in her shaking hands and started crying again. She didn't want to, she really wanted to be stronger than this, but she couldn't help it. She was done. Too tired, too scared, too fed up with the entire situation to go on.

She didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, when she finally dared to look up again. She forced herself to take in a deep breath and take some time to fully calm down. Then it felt as if everything fell back into place and she was back to thinking straight and rationally again. She got to her feet, wiping the final tears away from her cheeks. She opened the top drawer of the closet against the wall on her left, desperately searching for a piece of paper and something to write with. She came up empty handed and opened the second drawer, groaning in frustration as she didn't find anything useful in there either. Elena then changed her mind, taking a candle from the side table next to her and turning to the darkness again. She just needed a sign of life, needed to know Stefan was still there. She threw the candle against the invisible dark barrier with as much force as possible and almost dropped to her knees in despair when it didn't go through and just bounced back, landing right in front of her feet once again.

"...No..." She whispered, swallowing heavily as she realized that her last connection to the outside world, to any sign of life, was now gone.

Damon was gone. He'd been away for too long now and Elena feared that if the exchange to the outside world didn't work from her side anymore, it wouldn't work from his side anymore either. He wasn't going to come back and she was on her own. There was practically no hope left and the disturbing realization that there was a very good chance that she was going to die in here finally dawned on her. She'd never see Stefan again. Or Jeremy. Jenna. Bonnie. Caroline...Damon. She'd die in here and it'd be her own stupid fault. She just prayed Damon was okay. She prayed that Stefan had been on the other side and they just couldn't find a way back in anymore, like she couldn't find a way out anymore. In fact, she needed to believe that. The other option was just too painful. He had to be okay.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena was crawled up on the big bed, the covers reaching to her chin. She tried to block out the noises of the house that used to make her feel at home, but now made her uneasy. The ticking of the clock that used to be comforting, was now a cruel reminder of the time that was passing by and the hours she'd been on her own now. This bedroom, that used to be her favorite part of the house, had now changed into a place she couldn't even fully face anymore. She knew the big, black edge was now right next to the bed, threatening to swallow her whole, but she refused to look at it, telling herself she couldn't be afraid of that anymore. Part of her even believed that disappearing in the darkness was hardly the worst thing that could happen to her right now. She rolled over, lifting the heavy book with one hand, pulling it onto her chest. Her other hand reached out to Damon's notes as she forced herself to sit up a little. She had to try. She couldn't just give up.

She took the notes, that had thankfully been left by Damon on the kitchen counter and hadn't been swallowed by the darkness along with the notepad, and scanned the variety of words and sentences, storing them in her mind. At first glance none of it made sense, but she was determined to give this her best shot, even if it was the last thing she did.

As time passed by certain pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She got caught up in Damon's handwriting and was able to trace several things back to actual pages in the book, even managing to translate some of the Latin words. She learned that spells were divided into categories, all of them motivations behind the spells. Hate spells, love spells, peace spells. She slowly got convinced that the spell she was currently under had to fit into one or several of these categories. The spells in the book she was able to make sense of made her shudder in fear as every single one seemed nothing short of horrific. She grew frustrated when nothing she'd just managed to read and translate seemed to bring her any closer to a solution. Her eye caught a phrase in the book that Damon had translated into: 'stick together' and she wished the two of them had done just that. After a full hour had passed by she tossed the book aside again, burying herself in the covers and pillows, fully intending to stay that way until a brilliant idea would pop into her head or the end would finally come. Whichever came first. She wasn't giving up, she just wasn't sure how to go on anymore.

-x-x-x-x-

In the middle of the night she dragged herself into the shower, finding this silly, but unsure of what else to do, since sleeping simply wasn't an option. She'd grabbed one of Stefan's buttoned down shirts now she had run out of clean clothes of her own and made a mental note to herself to do some laundry later, then laughing out loud at the absurdity of the thought. What was she doing? Going on as if everything was okay?

She turned on the hot water and was pleasantly surprised by how comforting an everyday event like a shower was to her in her current situation. She closed her eyes as the streams of water rolled over her aching body applying slight pressure to the many bruises decorating her skin. It was the first time she'd taken a moment to truly feel how wrecked, bruised and battered she was, quickly shrugging off the feeling again, deciding it wouldn't do her any good right now. The simple act of washing her hair calmed her down in a strange way as she tried to pretend everything had gone back to normal. She'd come out of the shower in a minute to find Stefan in his bedroom, wearing his familiar white wife beater and jeans, looking up at her from his book and smiling at her. She imagined Damon walking in, doing his best to annoy them, holding a glass of liquor and spotting that perfect, carefree smirk that seemed to make everything okay. She imagined her phone ringing and hearing Jenna's voice asking her if she could pick up some groceries in the morning and reading a text from Bonnie, telling her to meet at the Grill the following afternoon.

She turned off the shower and reached for the towel, carefully wrapping it around her body as she stepped out onto the cold tile floor. She walked over to the sink, wiping the mirror until her face became visible. She sighed, before turning away and reaching out to Stefan's shirt and her own jeans. She dried herself off as quickly as she could, before slipping on the shirt that was way too big on her.

She was surprised it had taken her a while to pick up on the changed noises around her. Complete silence had been replaced by something else that she couldn't place immediately. Sighs? Moaning? She turned to the closed bathroom door in surprise. It came from the bedroom. She was way beyond experiencing any fear now, feeling numb more than anything else, so her hand almost instinctively reached out to the doorknob, turning it without giving it a second of thought.

Upon opening the door she was confronted by the familiar body of the man she needed so much right now and feared she'd never see again, lying on the floor near the bed. She closed her eyes for a second as she eagerly breathed in the relief. When she opened them again, she finally felt fear again when she noticed the trail of blood from the bedroom door to where he collapsed near the bed and heard his painful moaning.

"Damon…" She softly called out, rushing to his side, kneeling beside him.

"…Elena…"

Her hands ran over his face and body in panic, trying to determine where the insane amount of blood came from. He was hurt, but where? When she couldn't discover any obvious injuries, her right hand moved back to his face, her thumb running up and down his cheek in a failed attempt to comfort him.

"What happened?"

"…I told you I'd come back for you…" He spoke softly, the effort obviously taking a lot out of him as his eyes were focused on her and he tried to smirk.

"You're hurt." She stated the obvious, unable to hide her growing panic any longer.

"…I'm okay…"

He reached out to his shirt that was soaking wet from the blood and lifted it slowly, revealing a fatal cut starting from his chest, running all the down to his lower abdomen as if someone had tried to gut him like a fish. As horrific as the sight of the heavily bleeding wound was, Elena was relieved to see it had already started healing and she told herself that this wasn't so bad. He was a vampire. He wouldn't die from this.

"You need blood." She decided, figuring it would help him heal sooner as she immediately got to her feet, ready to rush downstairs. She got pulled back by Damon whose weak hold on her wrist was still strong enough to pull her back down. She looked at him in anticipation.

"…Nice legs…" He then stated, his smirk now back in place, nodding to her as Elena looked down and realized she was only wearing Stefan's shirt, that didn't even reach to her knees, and nothing else. A misplaced chuckle escaped her throat at his comment.

He was going to be just fine.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena was on the bed, carefully wiping the blood from Damon's face and body with a wet cloth. Every time she got rid of some of the blood, a scar was revealed, tricking her into believing they were older injuries, but telling her otherwise when the scars disappeared right under her eyes, the healing process speeding up with every drop of human blood that entered Damon's body. Her gaze moved to his abdomen, the large wound now fully closed and now nothing more than a bad memory.

"Like what you see?" Damon spoke up, taking a break from drinking straight from the bag and giving her a look.

Elena ignored it as she leaned against the back of the bed, fully dressed now. She investigated his face.

"What happened, Damon?"

"Would you believe me if I told you Stefan took out some misplaced anger on me, but is eagerly awaiting your return and that I'm going to take you to him as soon as I feel better?" He asked hopefully.

"No."

"Figured." He sighed, sitting up straight. "Okay. So no Stefan. No Bonnie."

"Then what happened?" She pressed.

"Hard to describe. It fitted my exact definition of hell though. And then some."

Elena closed her eyes as her stomach turned at the world 'hell'. Damon placed his hand on her knee, causing her to look up.

"Hey, chin up. I've been around for a while and wasn't going to let the first version of hell they throw my way stop me."

"…It came close." She whispered, looking at him, tearing up a little.

"I can see the big, bad darkness tried to get you." Damon continued, ignoring her words and trying to change to the subject as he looked around. "I guess we weren't playing by the rules."

Elena frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we've had two attempted escapes now. After Bonnie tried to lift the spell, the darkness made it's first appearance. And now, after my failed escape, it's closed in on us. We're not supposed to find our way out like this, that much is obvious. We're going to have to find a way to play by the rules."

"We don't know what the rules _are_."

"Then we better find out soon." Damon shrugged as he tossed the empty bag of blood on the nightstand. "It's like a riddle we need to solve."

Elena took in this new information that hadn't even occurred to her until now. She turned to Damon and softly bit her lip.

"I'm so sorry…" She started, tears welling up again. "You had to go through this because of me."

"…It's okay..."

"No, it's not." Elena objected, blinking away the tears. "I thought you were gone. I thought…"

She chocked on the last sentence, the tears starting to roll down her face now, nothing she could do to stop them. The overwhelming sensation of happiness that had come over her now he was safe and sound next to her again was unexpected and confusing at the least, especially mixed with her fear and worry and above anything, relief.

"Come here…" Damon offered, reaching out to her shoulder and pulling her closer. "..I'm here. I'm fine."

She was now fully crying as she allowed him to pull her in. She found herself wrapping her arm around his chest, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Ssshh…We'll be okay." He whispered, holding on to her shaking body with both arms, gently kissing her hair, Elena unable to see the worry that spread over his face as he pulled her closer and stared ahead of him.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: I warned you! Dark chapter! But a semi happy ending for now. I hope I didn't portray Elena as too much of a lost little girl in this chapter. I know she's strong and courageous, but I tried to imagine her in this situation and I think I portrayed her actions and reactions somewhat realistically. She's**** experiencing fear, relief, confusion and a whole bunch of other conflicting emotions and hopefully that explains her actions.**

**Please, let me know how you feel about this chapter. I need confirmation and encouragement every step of the way, because I'm just an insecure girl at heart. ;-)**

**Steffanie**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Don't sue.**

**A/N: Okay, the way I see it, everything that happened can result into two things: them growing closer to each other, or actually further apart. I chose the latter for now, since it's only chapter five, people. The traumatic experience in 'hell' has done a number on Damon and he doesn't really know how to handle it without being a jerk and Elena is just a little embarrassed about her little breakdown in his arms, pushing him away from her again. We also get some answers to burning questions…In fact, to most of the burning questions. That's right. Answers. Also, there'll be a single, short moment of fun in here. With alcohol. They deserve it.**

**And thanks again to every single person who's reading this story, especially those who took the time to leave a review. They still get me excited like a little kid on Christmas morning. ;-) Still haven't found the time to reply to them all (although I think I've replied to all the reviews I got on the first chapter), which is something I usually do. But it's becoming difficult with the insane amount of reviews that have come my way on this story. So for now I'm sticking to addressing you all in this A/N and once again, from the bottom of my heart, telling every single one of you: thank you!**

**On a more serious note: I'd like to dedicate this story to my wonderful grandpa who very unexpectedly passed away recently. He was my world and life doesn't really make sense without him. This story has been the perfect distraction so far and hopefully will continue to be that. Truth is, I'd rather deal with some Delena drama than anything else right now, so a big thank you to you all for giving me that opportunity and helping me to find a little peace, like I hope he did. You're all seriously awesome. **

**Ugh. Why are my A/N's always so incredibly long? Can you tell I like to write? ;-) Let's just go on with the story and I forgive those who skipped the endless A/N. Haha. **

**Enjoy!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 5:**

Damon exited the bathroom to find a slim brunette on his bed. Elena had made herself comfortable on the fluffy bed that until now she'd only seen from afar.

"Oh, a girl in my bed." Damon spoke, smirking. "It's been a while. Although I've been in a girl's bed very recently. She looked a lot like you, actually. Did you come back for more?"

"You have TV." Elena explained, nodding to the screen.

"I still get cable in this hell hole that cut us off from the rest of the world?" Damon frowned.

"Looks like it."

"Cartoons?" He observed, frowning.

"They're fun and innocent and nobody dies." She shrugged. "How are you feeling?"

"Never been better." He assured her, walking over to his closet and getting out another one of his black shirts, effortlessly slipping it on. "How are you doing? Almost didn't recognize you with your face not red from crying half the night."

"Don't be an ass." She ordered him, desperate to forget the events of last night and push away the memories of how she spent the night in Damon's arms. There was something she didn't think would ever happen, especially not with everything that had happened between them. She felt a little embarrassed that she had let herself go like that with him and hoped he'd just let it go.

"Ready to study a bit more?" She asked him, turning off the TV and sitting up on the bed as Damon walked over to her, buttoning up his shirt.

"Or…" He started, standing still in front of her, then leaning over, placing his hands on either side of her, his face moving in towards her. "We could stay here and have a repeat of last night, with just a little less crying and a little more…"

Elena pushed him away as their noses almost touched. "Damon!"

He allowed her to push him aside and grinned, obviously pleased with himself as Elena hopped off the bed, turning to him.

"Seriously?" She asked him.

"Pretty seriously." Damon nodded.

"This is still not a party, Damon! It might be very easy for you to forget about what happened yesterday and make fun of my tears and just pretend that everything's okay and we're not actually stuck in this place that could suck us both into hell at any second, but I can't! Okay? We need to do something. Get back to that book, figure something out."

"I figured we had an hour to spare." Damon shrugged, back to his annoying ways.

Elena groaned in frustration. "Fine. Be this way. I'll be downstairs, actually doing something useful."

She headed towards the door, not believing his change in attitude all of a sudden. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her that she could stand to be a little more understanding after he'd just spent half a day in a place that could very well be hell just hours ago, but he annoyed her so much that she couldn't bring herself to it. He wanted to pretend yesterday didn't happen? Fine. She was going to do the same and just get back to trying to solve everything.

"Elena…" Damon sighed, right before she left the room, but it didn't cause her to stop. "…I was joking!"

She ignored him and just headed down the stairs. They were starting to get on each other's nerves and it worried her.

-x-x-x-x-

"Look…" Elena started from her spot at the kitchen table. "We're tired, we're frustrated, we've been stuck together for days now, been stuck in the same place for days now and are pretty much just getting more annoyed with everything with every passing second. I get that. But can we just at least try to not fight?"

"We can try." Damon nodded. "Not going to work."

"Because you're _not _trying." She objected, tossing the book aside as she watched Damon who'd spent the bigger part of the day pacing through the house, doing everything but make himself useful and just annoyed her more and more.

"No, because situations like this drive people crazy. That's a fact and we can't do anything about it. Soon one of us is going to lose his mind and voluntarily jump into our loyal friend Mr. Darkness, figuring what's on the other side can't be worse than what's in here. It's not going to be me though. I've seen the other side and I know better. I'm good for now."

Elena hesitated, feeling bad for him. "You still haven't told me what happened exactly…on the other side. Or how you got out. If you want to talk about it…"

"I _really_ don't." Damon cut her off.

"Okay." Elena nodded. "Can you then please help me with the book?"

"There's nothing left to do with that damn book, Elena." He spoke up. "I only understand every other word of it, it hasn't brought us anything useful so far and I've been over it three times now."

"You can translate it." She told him. "You scanned the book, translated something here and there, decided it wasn't useful and continued. If you just translate it, starting on the first page and work your way through it…maybe you overlooked something. Please."

"I think we need to put that book aside and figure out a way to clear our heads." Damon decided. "We need to…have some fun. Otherwise I predict disaster in the upcoming days. I mean, I still predict disaster regardless, but maybe a little fun will postpone it for a while."

Elena looked up at him, realizing he wasn't going to cave. She knew that what she was doing was probably going to be useless anyway, but at least she was doing something, right? How could he not want to do something?

"I can't have fun while we're in here." She truthfully told him.

"Well, you've never partied with Damon Salvatore before." He winked, before walking over to the cupboard where he kept some of his liquor. Elena watched him with sincere interest, trying to figure out a way to convince him that the best thing to do right now was to find a way out of here.

"Here." Damon said, placing down a glass of scotch next to her. "Drink up. We deserve it."

"Damon…"

"Just try it. Try clearing your head."

She sighed, looking at the glass he'd just placed next to her.

"You're sharing your booze. Guess you're not worried about running out of that."

"Enough booze in this house to last us a lifetime." Damon assured her, raising his eyebrow as he downed his scotch, shuddering as he felt the burning in his throat.

Elena took the glass from the table and sniffed it. "This stuff any good?"

"You know me. The best there is."

She wasn't convinced, but took a small sip anyway. She immediately started coughing and placed the glass back on the table. "Yeah. I'm sticking to tequila or something from now on."

Next thing she knew, she was holding a shot of tequila in hand, Damon smirking next to her.

"Drink up."

Elena turned to him, frowning. "What are we doing? Getting hammered? That's not going to help us, Damon."

"But it'll be fun. And Lord knows we deserve some fun." He rationalized.

"We're not in here to have fun! We need to be doing something constructive. Come up with a plan so we'll at the very least try to get out of here." She found herself repeating the same old speech again, but considering this her last attempt.

"One shot of tequila won't kill you. We need to relax a little or we'll go crazy and kill each other. Meaning I'll probably kill you, because you don't stand a chance against me. We just need to unwind. A couple of drinks, some good tunes…a little old-fashioned fun! You remember fun, Elena. We used to have it together from time to time back in the day."

Elena looked up at him as she pouted her lips in thought. This was a stupid idea and she knew it. But she also knew she was a walking panic attack waiting to happen now that the situation seemed nothing short of hopeless, was seriously beginning to think that she could die in this house and just a small, tiny part of her agreed with Damon. She deserved some fun. Needed some fun. Even if it was the last fun she'd ever have.

"One hour." She told him, deciding. "Then we'll get some sleep and tomorrow we'll work extra hard on translating that book."

"Noted." Damon nodded, downing his second glass of…whatever.

She took a deep breath, trying to push away the last rational thoughts and threw back the tequila.

"I get to pick the music." She told him as she got up from her chair.

"I'll pour us another drink."

Damon exited the kitchen and walked into what was left of the living room.

"Here goes nothing…" She muttered to herself, before following him.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena threw herself on one of the chairs, looking down and seriously wondering at what point during the night her sweater had come off. She was now in her tank top and jeans, barefooted and she was pretty sure she'd just done a silly dance to some 80's pop song. Alcohol really took away your shame, she now remembered.

"Okay. Hour's over." She told Damon, who was over at the radio, picking out some new tunes. She looked over at the clock. "…like three hours ago. We need to get to bed, Damon."

She looked around the room and was pleased to conclude she really did have fun tonight. They'd played cards and Damon's personal favorite Scrabble, had sung along to some horrible classics as loudly as they could, Damon had smoked some disgusting cigars and they had pretty much just acted silly the whole night. Her and Damon. Like friends. Like before. Of course now there were insane amounts of alcohol involved.

"Bed, huh?" Damon asked, turning around and smirking at the word.

"Don't say whatever you're thinking!" She warned him. "You'll ruin the night."

Then all of a sudden she was upstairs on Stefan's bed, Damon watching her triumphantly before dropping himself right next to her.

"_This _is what I was thinking." Damon clarified. "I don't think you were stable enough to climb those stairs."

"You're underestimating me." She smiled, crawling under the covers.

"Possibly. I've drank with many, many women, Elena. You're the first who kept up with me."

"Correction: I drank you under the table."

Damon just smirked, making himself a little more comfortable on the bed, resting his head on a pillow. "You were fun tonight. Didn't think you had it in you."

"You knew I was fun."

"Alright. But I didn't think you could be fun in a tricky situation."

"Ugh." She groaned, burying her face in her pillow. "Way to remind me."

"Huh. You forgot you're not here voluntarily, but you're actually stuck here with me? We _are_ making progress." He smirked, tucking his hands behind his head.

Elena rolled over to her side and watched him.

"Thank you." She then said. "I know that things are…off…between us. But thank you for being there for me through all this."

"You're welcome." Damon smiled sincerely, locking eyes with her, where Elena actually expected a sarcastic comment and was a little shocked it didn't come.

"I miss this." She spoke, surprising herself with those words.

Naturally, this caused Damon to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"You miss what?"

"Us hanging out. I know we haven't actually done anything like _this _before, but…I miss us. As friends."

"You're the one who decided we couldn't have this anymore." Damon shrugged.

"Because we can't."

She hated herself for saying the words out loud after everything they'd been through, but she knew that she meant it and that she owed it to him to be honest. How could they ever go back to normal?

"Then what was tonight?"

Elena rolled back as she stared up at the ceiling. "I needed a break."

Suddenly Damon's head appeared above her and she saw a hint of darkness his eyes that startled her. He placed his hands on either side of her as he leaned in. "So you used me. Again."

"I didn't use you. You know where we stand, Damon."

"Yeah, you keep saying that. I sincerely hope you'll believe it someday."

"What's your problem?"

"My problem is that your actions don't match your words, Elena. You keep pushing me away, but your actions keep pulling me in. You're using me. Either that or you don't know what you want."

"We're stuck in here _together_, Damon!" She spoke up, trying to push him off her, but failing miserably. "We called it truce!"

"Yeah. We'd stay out of each other's hair. We agreed to be civil. Tonight went a little beyond that, don't you think? Or how about last night? Friends don't manipulate friends, Elena."

"Well, we're not friends!" She spat out, saying those words more out of frustration than anything else.

Damon finally turned away from her and got off the bed. Elena struggled to sit up straight, fearing Damon's next move who was now angrily pacing through the room.

"I know it's not fair." She finally spoke, softly. "But we only have each other in this, okay? And I can't do this alone! We need to stick together!"

Damon stopped pacing and looked up at her. "So you need me. As long as we're in here. Is that it?"

"…Yes…" She finally confessed.

"Alright." He nodded. "Then I know where we stand. But I don't need you, Elena. I don't need anybody. Not even in here."

"Damon…"

"I sure hope we're not stuck in here for much longer." He continued. "You're getting on my nerves. Keep that up and you're in big trouble."

Damon gave her a look and a smirk that gave her the chills, before leaving the room. Elena sighed as she sank back into the pillows. _Crap. _He'd scared her just now. She was well aware of what could happen if somebody pushed him too far. And there was nobody to take it out on but her. They had to get out of here. And soon.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena yawned as she absently reached out for her mug of coffee, trying to take in all the information scribbled on the notes before her. She hadn't slept well at all last night, bad thoughts haunting her every time she managed to fall asleep. She almost wondered if Damon had gone into her head again and made her dream those things, but she knew that wasn't the case. Her vervain necklace was still safely locked around her neck. She'd gone downstairs at six in the morning, deciding she should use her time for something more useful than not sleeping. So here she was, at the kitchen table, trying to make sense of a whole lot of senseless words.

Suddenly Damon entered the kitchen, quietly as ever, startling her as he did.

"Morning." She offered, placing her elbow on the table and resting her head in her hand.

He didn't react and just poured himself a cup of coffee, then exiting the kitchen again. Elena sighed as she closed her eyes for a second. She couldn't even decide if this was a good or bad thing. At least he wasn't yelling at her or scaring her. But the silent treatment seemed that much worse for some reason. She took a deep breath, before turning back to Damon's notes. She frowned as she noticed something and then got an idea, blindly pulling the book closer and flipping the pages to what she was looking for.

"Damon!" She called out, hardly expecting a response. She checked what had caught her eye in the book and got a little excited knowing she maybe found something significant. She sat up straight and took a pen, underlining the important words in the notes.

"Damon!" She repeated. "Please! It's important!"

"Unless you're in grave danger, I'm not interested." The unexpected reply came from somewhere in the house.

She hesitated, wondering about his words. "…If I was in grave danger would you come to gloat and watch me die…or would you help me?"

"Stop asking stupid questions." His voice came from another part of the house then before.

She sighed in slight relief. "Well, then I'm in grave danger. Come help me!"

It took a while, but then she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He sure wasn't in a hurry, but at least he was coming. He appeared next to her.

"What?" He asked, obviously annoyed.

"I think I might be on to something." Elena explained, pushing the book and notes towards him. "Can you translate this passage for me?"

"Not interested." Damon mumbled, pushing the book back towards her, before turning around and making his way out of the kitchen.

"You're not interested in getting out of here?" She spoke up, turning around to watch him. "You really want to die in here?"

"I'm already way past my expiration date, Elena. Maybe it's my time to die. For real this time." He replied carelessly, exiting the kitchen.

Elena groaned in frustration, hopping off her chair, ready to follow him. "Don't be so damn stubborn, Damon! I know you're mad at me, but this is ridiculous! You're just going to come back here and you're going to help me!"

This caused Damon to turn around. "Or what?" He asked, his voice dark and dangerous.

"I'm not going to die in here." Elena told him calmly. "And I know you don't want to die in here either and most importantly, I know you're not going to let me die in here, since you pretty much just said that much. So whenever you're ready I'll be in the kitchen."

She looked him straight in the eye, before turning around and walking back into the kitchen, taking her place at the table again, sitting down. She waited patiently, tapping her foot against the chair, pretty sure about what was happening in the hallway right now. She was confident she knew him well enough to know the thoughts running through his head, the facial expression that went with this and what the outcome of his thought process would be.

She couldn't hide a small smile when she heard his footsteps approaching from behind her. He took his place in the chair next to her.

"What is it?" He asked.

Elena pushed the book towards him again and pointed at a small passage.

"Your notes say that this phrase: Cohearo Cohero Cohesi Cohesum means 'stick together'."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I noticed it before the other day, but your handwriting had me confused for a second and I thought it read 'stuck together', which got my attention. Is there any chance you could've translated it wrong?"

"No. It means stick together."

"Will you translate it anyway? It's a hate spell, right? With a reference to a peace spell on the next page?"

Damon reluctantly pulled the book closer, bending over the page. She watched him go over the words and the slight change in his facial expression didn't go unnoticed by her.

"What?" She asked, curiously.

"It is a hate spell, but it only works on a person with an unusual amount of hatred inside of him…or her." Damon spoke, looking up at her and giving her a look. "I think you'd qualify."

"What does it do?"

Damon turned back to the page. "Well, it's not a spell that's released by choice. Couple of centuries ago some not so nice witches hid these spells in different objects meant to work on those with extreme hatred towards another person in them. Everybody else is immune to it….Huh, it says something about how these feelings of hatred need to be returned. They have to be mutual feelings between two people. It curses them both, making it impossible for them to find happiness unless it's with each other, forcing them to work out their problems and stick together or…die in a horrible way. Fun little witches."

"And the reference to the peace spell?" Elena asked, taking in this information.

Damon flipped the page. "…the outcome of the spell is that these two people find peace. Or again: die in horrible way."

"This could be it, Damon."

"There's more." Damon noticed, ignoring Elena and flipping more pages. "The spell is metaphorically. They'll be drawn to each other in an unexplained way, searching for each other's company, traveling the world if necessary to find the other person, which is usually what drives them insane, being drawn to their worst enemy, often resulting in suicide of either or both parties…yada yada yada. Really. Fun little spell." He concluded, looking up at her. "This is not it. It doesn't mention being literally forced together. Although the hate-part sounds familiar. You definitely fit that profile."

Elena didn't reply, deep in thought.

"But the spell would've been released sooner. If Stefan opened this box at some point, which I'm sure he did, I would've been cursed before. We hate each other's _guts_."

"No, you don't." Elena finally spoke. "You're brothers. You've never hated each other. Although that might qualify as a curse on it's own, since you're both eager enough to hate each other. And Stefan's not one to hate anybody. He could've been immune to it."

"So…let's say that this is it. That means you have an unusual amount of hatred towards me."

She shot him a look. "Read it again: it means _we_ have an unusual amount of hatred towards _each other_. It has to work both ways."

Damon didn't respond.

"And…usually when two people hate each other that much, they stay out of each other's way. Like the book mentioned traveling the world to find this person. They're certainly not in the same place together. Perhaps the spell was altered when I released it with you nearby." Elena theorized. "Making the spell more literal, actually changing the metaphorical 'stick together' to the literal 'stuck together'."

Damon got up from his chair. "Fine. Let's say we'll go with your theory for now. How do we lift the spell?"

"…stop hating each other. Find peace." She spoke softly, looking down at the table.

"….I just don't think this is our spell, Elena." He then spoke. "Because if it is, we're screwed. You can't forgive me."

"Do you hate me?" She then whispered softly. "That's the only confirmation I need. If you do, then this is our spell."

She finally dared to look up again and was surprised by the pained expression on Damon's face as he stared back at her.

"…I hate you..." He then nodded. "Sometimes. Parts of you."

The world stopped spinning for a second as Elena heard him speak those words. They were more painful than she would've imagined. He _hated_ her?

"Elena…" Damon started. "...I'm going to need you to answer this question for me one last time and this time I need you to be completely honest to me and to yourself: is there any way you can _ever_ forgive me?"

She closed her eyes, searching in the deepest part of her soul for a truthful answer to that question, knowing their lives literally depended on it. He killed her little brother. Just like that. And every time she thought back to that moment, an insane amount of anger boiled up inside of her. So could she forgive him for that? Would those feelings of extreme hatred towards what he did ever disappear? Could she trust him again?

"We're screwed." Damon eventually stated without any emotion when it took her too long to answer. He buried his hands deep in his pockets, before casually leaving the kitchen.

Elena turned back to the table and buried her face in her hands.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: Huh. The truth is out there now. ****It's not going to fix anything though. And Damon hates Elena? Really? Yup. He has his reasons. It'll come up. ;-)**

**Well, another chapter done! I'm on a roll! ****Hopefully you didn't think it's all too far-fetched and complicated. I tried to think it out well and I'm just a little worried it's too thought out. **

**There's more to come, although I can already tell you this story isn't going to be too long. My chapters are pretty long and at some point you just have to admit that the storyline's been played out and everything's said and done. I don't want this story to drag on, just because it can. I want it to be efficient and to the point. But…I'm far from done, so let's not discuss that now. ;-)**

**Drop me a few lines, let me know what you think. And…I'll be back. Terminator-style. **

**Steffanie**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Please, don't sue. That would suck.**

**A/N: I love you all so much for going with my crazy theories and thinking! You're all so great! Uhmmm…yeah, they're screwed. Pretty much. For now. Or are they? Hmmm…**

**Yeah, this is going to be a good chapter for us Delena fans!**

**I went back to work this week, so updates will be a little less frequent, since from now on I might actually need a little sleep. I managed to skip that for the most part this last week. ;-)**

**And I usually don't do this, but I was hoping you guys would do me a little favor. As some of you know the People's Choice Awards are coming up and now is actually the time to nominate people. Ian Somerhalder is on the list for Best Actor (well deserved), however Nina Dobrev isn't. I think that's a little unfair, because she's been amazing, especially as Katherine lately. So if you all could take a little bit of time out of your busy schedule to go to the site and vote for Ian, add Nina in de Best Actress category and vote for TVD in the Best Drama show category, that'd be awesome. It will literally take you two minutes and doesn't require registration. The reason I'm asking this of you guys is that I find it really unfair that CW shows are often (if not always) over-looked when it comes to the big award shows such as the Emmy's and the Golden Globes. I get that not all shows on the CW are award worthy, but it's sad that the ones that are, are often not included. People's Choice Awards is a big award show as well and it's our moment to show our support for the show and the actors. I hope you all agree. Well, I won't bother you with this anymore. Let's get on with the story! ;-)**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 6:**

Elena was sitting up straight in bed, her arms wrapped around her legs as her gaze went to the ticking clock on the wall. It was three in the morning. At least she assumed it was night, the hours simply blending together, making it more difficult to figure out if it was day or night. How long had they been in here now? Four days? Five? Longer?

She went over the events of yesterday again, trying to be brutally honest with herself. She knew Damon was right to be angry with her. Everything she'd done simply hadn't been fair towards him and she should've known that it would hurt him. It wasn't fair to only need him in here and to be completely honest, she wasn't even sure that was the truth. But just the thought of forgiving him seemed crazy. It instantly made her feel guilty towards Jeremy, feeling that if she ever let Damon back in, it would compromise how much she loved her brother and simply dismiss what happened to him. And she knew Damon could never guarantee that something like that wouldn't happen again. He was too dangerous, too unpredictable.

She felt for him though, knowing that he was trying so hard and that he really was sorry. And she got that she wasn't making it any easier for him in here. Calling it truce had seemed like a good idea at the time, but she should've known that at some point things would've started to blend together, making them unable to see the truce for what it was and keeping those feelings apart from their real ones.

But today he'd admitted that he hated her and even though she knew it was childish, she didn't like this at all. It even angered her a little. What reason did he have to hate her? Like really? Sure, she hadn't been fair to him, but _hate _her? It was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard and she was getting more pissed off by the second. _She_ had every reason to hate him, she could write a book about all the reasons to hate him, but what were his reasons? There weren't any. None at all. And to know that him saying that he did hate her weren't just words, but the truth, considering it's what triggered the spell, was just too much to bear. She needed answers. And she needed them now.

She hopped off the bed and entered the upstairs hallway wearing only her shorts and a tank top, but simply not caring. She walked over to Damon's room and saw the door was open, which she liked, hoping it would give her the opportunity to surprise him. He would definitely hear her if she had to open the door first, but if he was asleep, she could maybe sneak into the room without him knowing. She felt childish and silly for even doing this, but she wasn't about to step down.

When she entered the room she was glad to see that he indeed was asleep. He was lying on his back, the covers reaching to his waist, revealing his distracting naked upper body. She tip-toed over to the bed and investigated his face for a second at the risk of him waking up. She was intrigued though. He seemed so innocent and peaceful, two characteristics she'd never seen when he was awake. She then went back to her plan and in one simple motion dragged the pillow away from under his head and started hitting him with it, feeling like an 8-year-old child, but unable to stop herself.

"What the…" Damon murmured as he woke up and saw Elena standing next to his bed, hitting him over and over again.

"So you hate me, huh?" She spoke up, not stopping, hitting him everywhere she could. "That's ridiculous, Damon! How can you possibly hate me?"

She was truly getting angry and started hitting him with more force, even though she knew a soft pillow wouldn't hurt him. Damon jumped off the bed and tried to take the pillow away, but she was light and fast and he didn't immediately succeed.

"What are you doing?" Damon said. "Crazy woman!"

"I'm not crazy, okay? You're crazy!" She objected childishly, avoiding his hands and still trying to hit every time she saw an opportunity.

"Ah yes, because I'm the one whacking somebody with a pillow here." He replied, sarcastically, finally being able to take her wrists in hand and pulling her closer. Elena tried to break free, but before she knew it, she was on her back on the bed, Damon holding her down by her shoulders, getting on top of her.

"What's gotten into you?" He groaned, obviously annoyed.

Elena still struggled to get free, able to hit him one more time with the pillow she still had in hand. "How dare you hate me, Damon Salvatore?"

"You've lost it." He sighed. "Look at what you're doing for one second, Elena. Come on, this is insane!"

Elena was completely out of breath now and no longer had the strength to fight him anymore as she simply looked right at him, still feeling angry.

"You hate me." She continued, breathing heavily. "I need to know why. What did I ever do to you?"

Damon chuckled in disbelief, releasing her grip on her a little, but still holding on to her so she couldn't get up. Elena didn't mind, she didn't have the strength to get up anyway.

"It finally happened, huh? You snapped."

"Just tell me!" She urged him. "Why do you hate me?"

"I hate you because you just woke me up in the middle of the night by hitting me with a pillow of all things! I hate you because you've clearly lost your mind."

"I'm serious, Damon."

"Oh, so am I. Trust me." He assured her, smirking.

"Just tell me…" She now almost begged and Damon turned back to her, his face hovering closely over hers as he looked her in the eye.

"You really want to know?" He asked, his voice calmer and more serious now.

"Yes."

Damon hesitated as he investigated her face. Elena was staring right back at him, obviously determined to get the answers she wanted.

"I hate you…" He started. "…because every time I look at you, I see Katherine. Every time I see you, it feels like a dagger to the heart."

"It's not my fault I look like her."

"Nobody ever said that hatred had to be rational, Elena. I'm just telling you as it is right now. I hate you, because for some reason you bring out a side of me that I had planned to bury forever. I hate you for making me care, for making me worry. I hate you for not even realizing what you're doing to me, for not even knowing that the moments I don't think about you are rare. I hate you for making me feel this way, for making it impossible for me to just walk away and never look back. I hate you, because I know you'll never return the feelings I have for you, but also because you're turning your back on what you do feel for me and you're denying it. I hate you for not being braver and just take a chance on me, but above all that, I hate you for making me want you to take a chance on me, for making me want you at all. You're turning me into a person I don't want to be, Elena. And I just hate you for it."

His voice died out in the silent room as Elena just continued to stare back at him. She swallowed, not able to speak. Truth was that she wasn't hearing anything new. She knew all this and she'd just refused to face it until now.

"…Now it's your turn. Why do you hate me? Other than the obvious?"

She took a deep breath, trying to find her voice. "…I think the obvious is enough. What you did…"

"Be honest, Elena." He interrupted her. "For once in your life, just be honest."

She felt like crying when she heard him speak those words. Her eyes wandered over his face, resting on the lips that had just spoken them.

"I hate you…" She started. "…for being so unpredictable. For making it impossible for me to really let my guard down with you, because I'm afraid you'll turn against me. I hate you for making it impossible for me to trust you. I hate you, because I still want to be your friend after everything that happened when all I should want is to shut you out of my life forever. I hate you for knowing me so well that it scares me. I hate that you get under my skin and I can't even hate you for it….I hate you for making my heart race when I'm around you and I hate…." She closed her eyes, stopping mid-sentence, realizing how difficult being completely honest was. "…I hate, hate,_ hate_ you for….making me feel something for you that I don't want to feel."

She almost whispered the last part of the sentence and was terrified to open her eyes, knowing she'd just admitted to something she hadn't even always dared to admit to herself to the one person she'd hoped she'd never have to admit it to.

"…Elena…" He whispered after a good minute. "…Open your eyes..."

She shook her head, keeping them closed.

"Elena…" Damon urged, his voice a little louder now.

"Damon…I'm done, okay? I got my answers. You got yours. I just want to get back to my room. Please."

"Well, you're going to need to open your eyes to get there."

Elena sighed, then very carefully opening her eyes and staring at him. She was startled to see he was that close, even though he hadn't moved in since she'd closed her eyes.

"…I hate you…" She whispered.

Damon didn't reply to that, but just nodded slowly. Their eyes locked and Elena didn't think she'd ever felt this vulnerable before. His piercing blue eyes seemed to take her all in and what she saw in them was something new. Something in between complete adoration, utter confusion and perhaps pure hatred. She suspected it was something similar to what her own eyes were showing. She noticed how he very slowly started to lean in.

"Damon…" She said softly, faintly objecting to the move.

"Go ahead." He whispered, continuing to move in, his lips now mere inches from hers. "Reject me again."

She didn't. When their lips touched, she just closed her eyes again, not making a move. Damon let go of her shoulder and moved his free hand to her cheek, now kissing her a little more eagerly. She was stunned that she allowed him to and almost felt paralyzed, unable to object or give in to the kiss. He didn't seem to have a problem with this as his mouth patiently continued to cover hers. Elena then realized her free hand had moved to his warm back, resting there comfortably. The realization that she was able to move after all, finally forced her over the edge as she pulled him closer and finally responded to his kiss, granting him access to her mouth, their tongues meeting halfway. He now released his weight upon her as his other hand moved to her face too and their bodies were pressed together in a moment of pure passion. She moaned softly as her newly free hand took his and their fingers entwined as he raised her arm over her head, his kissing becoming a little more forceful and heated.

That's when she turned away, catching her breath as she did. This was wrong. She shouldn't be doing this.

"…Sorry…" She murmured and she was surprised that Damon actually gave her the room to get off the bed, instead of keeping her there.

She walked towards the door, but turned around before leaving, brushing a hand through her hair as she looked at him. He was still on the bed, but watching her too.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what that was."

"You know exactly what that was, Elena."

"I shouldn't have…"

"Take your time." He then spoke, more sincere than she'd ever heard him. "It's not like we're going anywhere."

She took in a deep breath, then nodded.

"Sweet dreams." He offered her.

"Yeah. You too."

"_Not_ going to be a problem. I just got inspired."

His smirk was back in place and Elena couldn't help but smile. She awkwardly held up her hand in attempt to give him a quick wave, before exiting the bedroom, closing the door behind her. It caused her to miss how Damon lay back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, a surprised expression on his face. It kind of matched Elena's as she entered Stefan's bedroom again and crawled back in bed. Did that _really _just happen?

Neither of them got much sleep that night.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena's body tensed up when she heard him enter the kitchen behind her. She tried to ignore it and just continue her very intriguing activity of pouring herself coffee, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Morning." He offered as he crept up behind her and reached out to a mug. He leaned over her while doing so.

"Morning." She managed to say, but it was hard to ignore the goose bumps on her arms as his chest gently brushed against her shoulder.

He chuckled softly. "Goosebumps, huh? After one kiss? I'm _good_."

This immediately brought Elena out of her tensed up state as the annoyance won it over the awkwardness. She watched him take the coffee pot out of her hand as pour himself a cup. He felt her eyes on him and turned to her.

"What?" He asked, feigning annoyance.

She took a deep breath. "…Stefan can never know about what…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He interrupted her, rolling his eyes as he sat down. "Brother dearest will be left in the dark when it comes to his twofaced girlfriend's extracurricular activities with the more attractive of the two Salvatores. Got it. It's adorable, really."

"What's adorable?" Elena asked, sighing as she sat down across from him.

"Your unwavering conviction that you'll actually see Stefan again. We _kissed _for heaven's sake, not an act two people who hate each other usually participate in, and we're still stuck in this hell hole."

"We _will_ get out." She assured him.

"Yeah? And what's your grand master plan to do that?"

"We're going to talk." Elena decided, placing the mug on the table after swallowing her coffee.

Damon chuckled again, rolling his eyes. "Ah, yes. How come I haven't thought of that? I'm resisting the urge to yell out 'Eureka'. Really. All sorts of brilliant."

"I'm serious, Damon." She told him. "We're going to talk about things and maybe it will help us understand the other person a little better. Maybe it'll lead to some kind of forgiveness.

Damon sighed as he looked at the girl sitting across from him. "…The moment you even start the sentence: 'and how does that make you feel?' I'm out. Also, I will be drinking."

"Fine."

"Fine."

-x-x-x-x-

Damon gave her a look as he watched her with his glass of liquor in hand. They'd moved themselves to the living room, where the couch and two comfortable chairs had disappeared along with the fireplace, but two other chairs had been saved. The darkness surrounding them was no longer something that really affected them anymore. It had become part of the scenery.

"Fine. I'll start." She told him off his look, as she made herself more comfortable in the chair.

"Can't wait…" He smirked.

"Be serious about this, okay? Otherwise it'll never work."

Damon downed his drink and reached out to the bottle again, filling his glass again. "Alright. I'm dead serious now. Dead serious, bordering on bored to death. It's a nice theme._ Death_."

She gave him a suspicious look, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt as she cleared her throat. "…Okay. Well, let me start by telling you that I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt so strongly about me and…"

"Bullshit." He interrupted her. "You knew damn well that I felt this way. It caused me to kill your little brother, Elena. "

She threw him a look.

"…which is something you know I'm eternally sorry for." He added helpfully, shrugging.

Elena sighed. "You're turning his death into a joke, Damon."

"I'm really not. Although _death_ is a slight overreaction don't you think? He's fine."

"Not thanks to you!"

"Come on! I already covered the sincere 'I'm sorry' for that, remember? If you're going to have me apologize over and over again for this, _then _it'll be turned into a joke. I apologized, went all vulnerable for you while doing so, what else do you want from me?"

She closed her eyes for a second, forcing herself to take a second to calm down. "New rule: no interrupting."

"Fine. Go back to your apology based on _lies_."

"Okay, so maybe I didn't want to see that you felt so strongly about me." She corrected herself. "Which is my bad and I'm sorry for that too. And I'm really sorry I made you believe that…you and I…that it could ever happen."

"Really, Elena? Really? You're sitting there with a straight face telling me that when we kissed last night? When you admitted you have feelings for me? I thought this talk required honesty, not flat out lies." Damon broke his already unconvincing promise not to interrupt as he got up from his chair. "New rule: I'm out when you lie. Which is now. So I'm out."

He finished his drink, before heading towards the kitchen.

"Damon…" Elena started, following him with her eyes.

He didn't react.

"Damon! Sit down!" She spoke up. "I'll start over. Come on! I'll do this! I'll be honest."

She closed her eyes as she spoke the last part of the sentence. This was going to be tough. When she opened them again, Damon had turned around and was watching her.

"I'm waiting…" He told her, impatiently.

"…I'm sorry. I'm sorry I can't be who you'd like me to be. I'm sorry that the fact that…you and I…have something…isn't going to change anything. I love Stefan, Damon. I trust him."

"That's it, isn't it? You don't trust me."

"That's part of it, yes. You're too dangerous. Too unpredictable." She admitted.

"Some girls like danger." Damon smirked, walking back towards his chair.

"Well, I don't. Never have. And just because I'm now in a situation where I automatically put myself in danger on a daily basis, doesn't mean I have to go and seek it out."

"…You seek it out by being with my brother, Elena. You seek it out by being in our world."

He sunk back into his chair, giving her an intense and serious look.

"…Stefan would never hurt me. Or the people around me. As long as I have you in my life, that's always going to be a risk that I'm no longer willing to take and I don't think you have a single reason to hold that against me. I'm being smart and sensible here. I'm not saying it's the easy choice, I'm not saying I don't _want_ you in my life, but it's what I have to do to protect the people I love."

Damon sighed and looked down at the floor, obviously deep in thought. "…I was upset that night. I just snapped."

"What happens next time you're upset? What happens next time I say something you don't want to hear?" She asked him. "…People get upset. I get upset. Doesn't mean I kill people out of frustration."

"You're not a vicious vampire whose nature it is to kill."

"Exactly!" Elena spoke up, leaning forward in the chair. "It's in your nature. It's what you've done for over a century. I can't even hold it against you. That's who you are and you might say that I'm turning you into a person you don't want to be, but there's enough of you left that makes it impossible for us to be friends…or anything else. But like I said: it's not something I want and…it's hard and I miss you and that's why there've been moments where I managed to forget where we stand and why I acted the way I did and why I made you feel that I could maybe let you back in and I'm truly sorry for that, Damon, but _every _time I step back and really think about it, it just becomes obvious that we can't go back."

"So…then why are we having this conversation? What is it going to solve?"

"I need you to understand and respect my decision. And…I need to find a way to not hate you. And you know what? I think I can do that. Because I know that you're sorry and you've been so good to me since we got stuck in here. I can believe that you're not a bad guy and that you care about me. Forgiving you for what you did is a different story. But the hatred…I think I can past that."

"How?"

"…By just doing it. By sitting here right now and telling you that I no longer hate you."

"It doesn't work like that, Elena." Damon said, shaking his head. "You don't just get to declare it. That's the damn thing with feelings. Trust me, I know. You either feel something or you don't."

"I know that. But I'm trying, okay? And I need you to try."

"Fine. I'll try. I hereby declare that I no longer feel any hatred towards you." He smiled, unconvincingly. "There. Done. Spell, be gone!"

He looked around the room. "Well, would you look at that? We're still here! _Shocking_."

"Damon…"

"We're screwed, Elena. All the conversations in the world aren't going to fix this. You think I want to hate you? Regardless if we're stuck in here or not? It's not a choice, Elena. We can't just turn it off. Or actually, I could, but then my vicious vampire-side would surface and his track record shows he's going to hate you too and then suck you dry, so that's not an option either. Just face it: we're doomed. We're going to die in here."

"Aren't you Mr. Positive?" Elena murmured, frustrated by the conversation.

"I'm realistic. Maybe it's time you give that a try too." He concluded, by getting up from his chair. "There's no solution here, Elena. Any other spell we could've beat, but this…Our relationship, whatever relationship that is, is too complicated and conflicting to ever solve this. It's always been based on that little bit of hate that just got out of control lately. And I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, but I just don't see a way out."

Elena looked up at those words. "That's why you're sorry? Because you can't save me?"

"…You don't deserve to die like this." Damon shrugged. "And if you do, the blood is on our hands. Mine and Stefan's. We brought you into this world. And I decided a long time ago that I'd keep you safe, whatever it was going to take. And I'm sorry I can't keep that promise."

Elena watched in awe as she heard him speak those words. He spoke them with such clarity and sincerity that it almost scared her.

"…I don't hate you, Damon." She whispered. "I just don't."

"Come back when you mean it." He told her, looking her straight in the eye, giving her a quick nod before heading towards the kitchen.

A sudden anger boiled up in Elena as she watched him leave. She got up from her chair and reached out to the side table where Damon's empty glass was on. She took the glass in hand, throwing it after him with as much force as she could manage. It shattered into a million little pieces against the wall, causing him to turn around in surprise.

"So, that's it?" She spoke up. "Those are going to be your final words as we patiently await death? You're just giving up? I don't want to die, Damon! I can't just die!"

Anger quickly changed into despair as she looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes once again.

"How can I die?" She whispered.

Damon stared right back at her, a pained expression on his face.

"…I'm sorry." He offered her.

"Yeah, I got that." Elena nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks now. "And I also get that you're a coward. You've been on the other side, Damon. You've seen it and it was so terrible that you won't even talk about it. And I'm scared. I'm terrified! And for you to just accept that this is where we're going instead of at least try to do something, terrifies me even more! You can't do this! I need you to be strong, okay? I need you to fight this fight with me. Until we take our last breath, there's hope! And you can't take that away from me. You can't take that away from yourself!"

"Okay." He nodded. "I'll fight. I don't know how. But I'll fight."

Elena wiped away the tears as she took a deep breath. "Thank you."

Damon seemed to hesitate for a second, then he walked back towards her. Elena didn't even realize it until he was right in front of her. It startled her when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close, but it felt natural to just allow it. This time she didn't hug him back, but she gladly rested her head on his chest.

"You're kind of a trooper, Elena." He stated, moving his face to her forehead.

She shrugged. "Always have been."

She could feel him smile against her face.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: What did you think? Was the kiss too soon? Were they (especially Damon) completely out of character with the conversation and admitting stuff? ****Was Elena way out of character with the pillow-fight? Well, I tried to portray this as realistically as possible without entering the world of cliché, but I'm not sure it worked out. Btw, those who are interested in what happened in 'hell' will get answer in one of the upcoming chapters. Promise.**

**Also, can we please take a moment to fully realize that for the first time my A/N's are of acceptable lengths? It took a lot of effort, but I did it. Go me!**

**Oh and one last time: Please vote for TVD and the actors for the People's Choice Awards. It's our moment to shine! :-) Thanks in advance!**

**Stef**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Please, don't sue.**

**A/N: Sorry, guys! This took me a while! But it's up now. Thanks for all your lovely reviews. Please keep those coming! Some heavy subjects are addressed in this chapter, but the plot doesn't really move forward. It's not a filler, but it's not the most exciting chapter either. Just so you know. Oh and 'hell' gets explained a little in this chapter, but it's just the tip of the iceberg! More to come on hell!**

**And for those asking questions about the People's Choice Awards: Fanfiction won't let me post links, but it's People's Choice (just turn that in one word) and add a . and then the first three letters of the word 'computer'. Ha! Pretty cryptic, huh? And while you're at it, please go ahead and nominate Paul Wesley too. I tend to forget how brilliant he is, but boy did he show me in the break-up scene! He was so good! But let's face it, the entire cast is! Well, you can still nominate until November 5****th****, so please do that. You know the show and the actors deserve it. ;-)**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 7:**

She had no idea how much time had passed now. The days and nights now impossible to keep apart, causing them to sleep and get up whenever they felt like it. Elena's internal clock was now completely out of control which made her feel uncomfortable and on edge, without really being able to explain it. That little bit of hope that she'd been cherishing for the past few days was starting to disappear too, now more time had passed and nothing had changed. She closed her eyes when she opened the cupboard and was confronted with the inevitable. The last bit of food. She reached out to an apple that was already showing some dark and soft spots, but she took a bite anyway, desperate to get rid of the hunger that had been haunting her for days now.

Damon entered the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"I'm bored." He stated.

"Me too." She nodded, sitting across from him again and taking another bite from her apple.

Damon looked at her and clenched his jaws, showing Elena a heavy subject was about to come up. "…How are we doing with the food-situation?"

"There's some cereal."

"And?"

"And that's it. Some cereal."

"Well, there's a problem. _Another_ one."

"How's the blood?" She finally dared to ask, failing to sound casual. The question had been on the tip of her tongue for days now, but she'd been afraid of the answer.

"Just had the last bag from the fridge this morning."

Elena's head shot up in blind panic for just a second.

"Calm down!" He assured her. "Nobody ever showed you the fridge in the basement? I'm good for now. You're not, however."

She shrugged. "I'll be fine for a couple of more days. Hungry and cranky, but fine."

He nodded slowly. "Probably, but maybe it's time to discuss the big, fat elephant in the room before it gets to that."

"And what's the big, fat elephant in the room?"

He threw her a look, but it took her a second to register what it meant.

"Oh no!" She said. "Not going to happen."

"There's enough blood in the house for both of us to last us a while." He urged.

"It's not going to happen, Damon." She ended the discussion before it really started and she hopped off the chair.

"Come on. You must've thought about it. Even before we got stuck here."

"I haven't. It's not an option."

"Really? Then how exactly did you picture you and Stefan's happily ever after, huh? Please enlighten me."

She sighed as she looked at him. "I haven't thought that far ahead yet, okay? And I'm not starting now. I'll get out of here a human being. Anything else is not up for discussion."

"Anything else being your rotting_ human_ corpse that I have to present to Stefan?"

"Don't say that."

"Look…I'm not thrilled at the idea either, but all I'm saying is: think about it. It makes sense. It'll buy us some much-needed time." He shrugged.

"I can't do this, Damon. I can't even think about being in here for that much longer." She admitted.

"I know the feeling. I'm moving if by some miracle we do get out. Never spending another night in here."

"Me neither." She assured him, leaning on the table.

"Huh. Stefan will love that."

"I'll convince him to move too." She solved the problem.

"Great. Maybe he and I can move into a nice little condo together. Makes it easier for us to continue our little ménage-a-trois."

"Damon…"

"Well, that's what it's become, right? What it's always been? It's a little freaky, but it'll continue to be that until you make a decision."

"I _have _made a decision." She told him, sharply. "A long time ago."

"Yeah…I'm not convinced. With the kissing and all that. You're going to need to do a little better than that."

"Damon, please! I thought the idea was to find a way to hate each other less, not_ more_."

"Oh, you love this side of me! You always have. And it's part of our charm. We bicker. I say something that gets a rise out of you and you can't resist reacting to it. It's how we work, Elena."

Elena turned her back to him after throwing him a look. She absently started to wipe the counter. She was starting to believe that perhaps Damon had a good point a few days ago. Their relationship had always been based on a little bit of hate, that only recently got out of control, but that had always been there. And it was going to be close to impossible to get rid of it. Unless…

"Why did you say that you'd show Stefan my rotting corpse?"

"Oh, come on. I was just trying to make a point…" Damon spoke up.

"No, I mean…It's because you assume that if I die, you get out of here, right?"

"Well…now that you mention it. The spell was very focused on the whole hating each other-thing. If one of us dies, there's no 'each other', since people usually don't feel anything in death. Why are we discussing this?"

Elena shook her head. "…No reason."

Suddenly Damon appeared behind her, his hand carefully resting on the counter as his mouth moved towards her ear.

"You can't die." He told her softly. "Which complicates the situation. Had any other person on the long list of people that I hate had been in here with me, the solution had been easy."

"…And what exactly do you think happens when you turn me?" She asked, stepping away from him and continuing to clean the counter.

Damon looked at her from the side, frowning. "…You die." He answered her.

Having made her hesitant point, she didn't reply to him as she continued her thrilling activity, avoiding Damon's glance as best as she could.

"…But only for a second. I mean, technically you'll still be dead, but with the walking and talking and everything. But you'll still die. For a second, your feelings will be gone. Could be enough to lift the spell." Damon continued, obviously deep in thought.

"Exactly. Could be." Elena nodded, her voice shaking at the thought. "If it doesn't work…"

"You'll just be turned. Which might be the only option anyway when the food's gone. And you turning is something that would've happened in the long run anyway."

"Damon…that's best case scenario and even that I'm not at all comfortable with. Worst case scenario, the spell will consider it cheating and suck us both into hell. Have you thought about that? It's too big of a risk."

"What other option do we have, Elena?" He asked.

"…I don't know. But this isn't an option. I don't want to be turned. Not now. Maybe not ever."

"Elena…"

"No, Damon. It's not up for discussion."

"I get it. It's a big thing. It's not something I want for you either, but…as a last resort…"

"Well, we haven't reached that point yet. I still feel fine, there's still some food left…"

"But maybe you should try to get used to the idea."

She sighed, finally dropping the cloth on the counter and turning to him. "…Can we not have this conversation right now? Please?"

Damon looked at her, slowly nodding. "…Okay."

"You might have a point, but just the idea scares the crap out of me. I don't want to think about it yet. I'm sorry, but…"

"…I understand."

"And…it needs to be my decision, Damon. If it does get to that…I get to decide. I know you're stronger than me and you could make the decision for me if you wanted to, but…I want it to be up to me and if I say no…then…it's no. Even if the other option is that I die. For real."

"Elena…"

"Please, Damon. I need to be able to trust you with this." She pleaded with him.

"….Okay…" He finally agreed. "…You can trust me."

"Okay." Elena nodded. "Thank you."

She swallowed heavily, before shrugging the bad feelings off.

"Besides…" She continued. "You do know that if you turn me and we get out, you still die, right?"

"Why's that?" Damon asked, spotting a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Stefan finds out you turned me, he'll hurt you, regardless of his diet. Not to mention if Bonnie found out. She'll kill you before you can even explain, let alone charm your way out of it."

Damon smirked. "But I'll have you by my side, vampire-strength and everything. We could kick their asses together."

Elena chuckled. "I hope so for your sake."

"…Yeah, me too."

-x-x-x-x-

"Tell me about hell." Elena urged, finding herself looking for his company again. She convinced herself it was because she needed a distraction from the hunger, but it didn't really work.

"…Why?"

"Because. Bad stuff happened there and maybe it'll help when you talk about it."

"That's pretty much your solution to everything, isn't it? Talk about it?"

"It could help."

"Hasn't done us any good so far. Why bother? It'll only trigger that panic attack you're on the verge of having." Damon dismissed the idea.

"That bad, huh?" She asked, brushing through her hair and sighing.

"Worse." He assured her.

Elena crawled on the bed where Damon's gaze had moved back to the TV. He was watching some documentary on the History Channel.

"Who hurt you like that?" She asked as she found herself reaching out to him and tracing a finger over his shirt. Starting with his chest, all the way down, to where the wound had been. Naturally, this caused Damon to look up.

"A cute little puppy with a big knife." He shrugged, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "He didn't mean to. He tripped and accidentally stabbed me. Shit happens."

"No more lies." She urged him, throwing him a look. "How did you get back here?"

Damon sighed, turning around to face her. "I don't know and I'm not interested in finding out."

"What happened, Damon? I really want to know."

"I voluntarily jumped into hell which is surprisingly not a place filled with rainbows and sunshine. There were hellhounds and demons, they didn't play by the rules and very much enjoyed ripping me to shreds. Need to hear more?"

"What do you mean they didn't play by the rules?"

"For heaven's sake, Elena! What do you want to hear? How I tried to fight them off, but suddenly found myself chained to a wall where a mad butcher gutted me like a fish?"

"For starter's." She nodded. "Then what happened?"

"I don't know. Next thing I knew I was at the bottom of the stairs. I managed to drag myself upstairs and that's where you found me. End of story."

"You were gone for hours, Damon."

"Only hours, huh?" He asked bitterly. "Let's just say that…the mad butcher was only the last installment of my little adventures in there. The one that did have a happy ending. You don't need to hear more."

Elena closed her eyes at those words. She didn't want to hear them, but she knew he had to say them. To get it out of his system.

"I'm sorry." She offered, softly.

"Yeah yeah, poor, little vampire." Damon replied, sarcastically and smirking at her. "It was no big deal."

She gave him a look. "If you say so."

"I do say so. Cheer up, Elena. Nobody died. _Yet_."

"And we're back to _that_." Elena sighed, sitting up straight and looking away. "It's still not up for discussion."

"I wasn't about to bring it up. Just stating the obvious. The sound of your stomach growling is deafening."

"Way to overreact." She told him.

"It is to me." Damon shrugged, nodding to the TV. "I can't even hear what these nice people have to say about Hitler."

"Fine. I'll leave." Elena decided, turning around to get off the bed.

"Don't." Damon objected, reaching out to her arm. "Stay. Sleep. Don't waste any more strength than necessary."

Her gaze went to her arm where Damon's hand was carefully wrapped around it. Then she looked at him and hesitated.

"I won't jump you." He added off her look, smirking. "It'll just be you, me and Mr. Hitler."

She nodded slowly. Damon moved to make a little more room for her. She crawled under the covers on 'her' side of the bed. He'd gone back to watching TV, like it was no big deal that she was going to take a nap in his bed. And then she realized it wasn't. After all this time of being locked up together, driving each other crazy and expressing their feelings to each other, they finally found a way to deal. Instead of pushing each other away, they now actually searched for each other's company. They stuck together. She knew this was a huge step in the right direction and she felt the faint feeling of hope rising up inside of herself again. She smiled slightly as she made herself comfortable in the big bed. She stretched her legs and met his feet halfway.

"Move those feet." She told him teasingly, using all her strength to push them away, but naturally not succeeding.

"Nuh-uh. My bed, my rules." He smirked, not looking away from the TV.

"We're _sharing_ your bed and your feet are on my half right now. Move them. You have all the space in the world on your side."

"I know. But I'm good like this." He shrugged.

"Damon!" She chuckled, sitting up straight and now also using her hands to try and push his feet away. They still didn't move an inch. Damon was grinning, but still focused on the TV.

"Fine." She finally gave up. "You annoy me, I'll annoy you."

She grabbed the pillow and threw it on his chest. She threw him a look, before laying down, her head and shoulders resting on the pillow, successfully blocking his view of the TV. She twisted and turned until she was somewhat comfortable, pulling the covers towards her. She stretched her legs, which now had all the room she needed. She turned her back to him and smiled proudly to herself. Two could play that game. Damon didn't react at first. Right then Elena realized her mistake. She wasn't surprised when she felt his soft hand on her arm, resting there comfortably. He sunk further back into his own pillow, so he was flat on his back now.

"You're right." He then spoke, sarcastically. "I'm _so_ annoyed right now."

"Shut up." She mumbled, but didn't move. "At least you can't watch TV now."

"Ah, bummer. I was so committed to Hitler and his little Nazi minions."

She couldn't help but smile as she teasingly hit him on his stomach. "Whatever. Just know I'm planning on taking a long, long nap. You'll be bored to death."

He didn't reply at first, but it didn't matter. She had no intention of moving, since she really was comfortable like this and she hoped at some point he'd at least get a little annoyed. Her hand moved back and rested on his abdomen, before she closed her eyes. It was just a nap. No big deal.

Elena was unable to see the look on Damon's face, but it was one of contentment as a small smile tugged at his mouth.

"Not a chance." He then whispered.

-x-x-x-x-x-

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when something woke her. She instantly realized she was no longer resting on Damon's chest and was actually alone in the big bed now. She was slightly disoriented for a second.

"Damon?" She called out, slightly unnerved by the fact he wasn't there. After everything that had happened, she just needed to know where he was. All the time. After all, who knew what sick twist the spell had decided to throw their way.

"I'm here." He announced as he entered the bedroom from the bathroom adjacent to it. His shirt was buttoned down, as it seemed to be a lot of the time these days, and a smirk was decorating his face.

"Hey." She started, relief written across her face.

"How was the nap?" He asked, smiling.

"Pretty good." Elena nodded, sitting up straight. "How long was I out?"

Suddenly Damon's smirk seemed to disappear for just a second. She frowned at the sight.

"A while." He eventually replied.

"What's wrong?" She asked, genuinely worried.

"Nothing too bad." Damon then told her, walking over to the bed and sitting down on the edge. "The clocks have stopped working."

Her eyebrows raised at those words. She should've known. The ticking of the clocks was one of the few sounds that could be heard when it was entirely quiet in the large house. Now there was a silence and she didn't hear anything. Not at all. She turned around to face the clock on the wall and got confirmation that Damon was speaking the truth. It was 3 o'clock. Just like before she had fallen asleep just now. A little bit of panic started to come to the surface as she realized what this would mean. This was another big step towards going crazy. Not knowing what time it was, not knowing how much time had passed, not having a clue as to whether it was day or night or how long you'd been up or sleeping, it was bound to drive them crazy. And soon.

"What about my watch? I left it in Stefan's…" Elena asked, turning back to Damon.

"Stopped working. Same with the clock on the microwave, yet the microwave still works. Go figure. And same with the little clock on the TV. Doesn't work. Stuck on 3 o'clock."

She swallowed heavily, followed by taking in a deep breath.

"It's no big deal, Elena." Damon tried to comfort her. "We can handle it."

She looked at him. "This is bad and you know it."

She managed to make the words come out without any obvious emotion, when all she wanted to do was scream and cry. This was a big thing, even though it didn't seem like that at first. This was going to be the thing that would drive them insane.

"I brought up the last of the cereal." He changed the subject. "Your stomach is what woke me up from our nap. Time to eat."

Her head turned towards the nightstand where she spotted the small bowl. It was only half filled with cereal, naturally no milk.

"I can stand it for a little while longer." She stated confidently.

"Well, I can't." Damon shrugged. "It's only postponing the inevitable for a little while longer. Eat."

He reached out to the nightstand and held it up in front of Elena. She eyed it with desire, which made her feel silly, but it was true. She was really, really hungry. She never knew cereal could smell this great. She never knew cereal had a real smell at all. Her hand almost automatically reached out to the bowl.

"Enjoy." Damon told her.

She eagerly started to eat, then forced herself to slow down and take smaller bites. That way she would enjoy it more. The cereal, not even her favorite, tasted like heaven. Almost literally. She'd rarely tasted anything so delicious. '

"I have a solution to your food situation. Sort of. But not really." He then interrupted her dinner and awaited her reaction.

She swallowed her second to last bite and looked up at him in anticipation.

"I need you to hear me out first." He continued. "No interrupting."

She nodded hesitantly, before taking another bite. She couldn't interrupt if her mouth was full.

"Starvation is a pretty terrible thing, Elena."

Her eyes grew wide as she instantly swallowed the cereal. "Why would you say that?"

"You said you wouldn't interrupt." He threw back, tilting his head a little and looking at her with an accusing look on his face.

"Well, I didn't know you were on a mission to trigger my panic attack!" She spoke up, momentarily forgetting about the last bit of food in the bowl.

"I wasn't trying to do that! It was only the first sentence. It gets better. Or a little worse at first, but _then_ better."

She eyed him suspiciously from right under her lashes, almost pouting at him. What was he doing?

"Take that last bite. You can't interrupt me when your mouth is full." He added matter-of-factly.

"We'll see about that." She told him, before taking the last bite.

" So…starvation sucks. With the right amount of willpower you might last a month, maybe even a little longer. But you'll literally cease to exist, Elena. You'll grow weaker with every hour. It won't be pretty."

Elena swallowed the cereal. "I can't believe you're saying this when I just finished the last of the food in this house."

"Drink my blood." He then stated. "Just a little bit, every day. You'll stay strong, feel fine. Feel great, even."

Her gaze went up and their eyes locked at these words. '

"…no…" She then muttered unconvincingly. "If I die with your blood in my system…"

"It doesn't have to get to that. If you're so eager to starve and decide you'd rather have that than be turned, then we'll stop. The thing with drinking my blood is that it's going to make you feel fine, but it's not going to solve the issue. Your body is still going to need food, you just won't feel it. Which is the tricky part, because you won't feel it if you're on the verge of death. So we'll stop in time before that happens so my blood will get out of your system. Unless you decide that turning isn't the worst thing that could happen."

Damon took the bowl out of her hands, Elena taking the opportunity to cover her face with them for just a second.

"I don't know, Damon."

"You still get to decide whether you want to turn or not. You just won't have to go through the horrible process of starvation for now. It's a good solution, Elena."

She sighed, thinking it over. An uneasy feeling crept up inside of her as she realized something.

She took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to voice her concern. "…Can I trust you? Will you really let me decide? I mean, I'll have your blood in my system. You could kill me and…"

"Elena." He interrupted her. "I wouldn't do that."

"Even if I decide that I don't want to be turned? That I'd rather die? You'll just watch me die?"

"…I wouldn't kill you." Damon assured her. "…unless you ask me to."

He tried to smirk a little.

"…Okay." She then nodded.

"Okay."

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: More exciting chapters are coming, promise! And thank you all for being such loyal readers! Means the world to me!**

**Stef**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. **

**A/N: Ugh. I struggled with this chapter! You wouldn't believe. But it's done. It's not the longest chapter, but it had to be over, because it was driving me nuts. ;-) I'll get back on track and hopefully update the next chapter sooner.**

**Again, thanks for the wonderful reviews! I don't know what else to say at this point. You're all wonderful!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 8:**

It was literally impossible to tell how much time had passed by now, but it felt like forever to Elena. She rolled over in the big bed, facing the door now. Next thing she knew Damon appeared, his signature smirk present. For a second, all seemed right in the world.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, leaning against the doorpost.

"Tired." She admitted. "Weak."

"Can you still walk?"

"Sure. But I would probably fall down a lot."

He chuckled as he walked over to the bed. He positioned himself on the bed in one smooth motion. Elena rolled back to face him. Damon was on his back, but he shifted until he was closer to her, their heads almost touching. They stayed like that in silence for a while.

"TV's out." Damon then stated.

"Really?"

"Yup. Just snow now."

"…Sucks."

"Pretty much."

Elena somewhat enjoyed the little chit-chat, but truthfully didn't have the strength to start or keep up a real conversation. She shuddered slightly, curling up in a little ball.

"What?" He asked.

"Cold." She admitted.

He sighed. Then he rolled over and started to run his hand up and down her arm in an already failed, but still considerate attempt to get her warm. She allowed him to and this went on for a minute or two, before she changed positions, moving closer to him, burying her face in his chest, crossing her arms so they were trapped between her own body and his.

"What time do you think it is?" She asked.

"3 o'clock, apparently." Damon shrugged. "Who cares?"

"I do. Would be nice to have something to hold onto. Everything feels so off right now. My head's cloudy all the time."

"Could be from the hunger."

She shook her head. "No, it was before that. It's like I'm dizzy and confused. Like I'm not even here."

"You're here, alright." He sighed. "We both are. Still."

She slowly nodded, admitting that she knew this. It was difficult to put her feelings into words. The best word to describe it would be 'lost'. Nothing to hold onto, nothing to make sense of.

"You're shaking." Damon broke the short silence.

"Yeah. Have been for a while now."

"You up for a little bit of my no doubt delicious vampire blood?" He proposed casually, like it was something completely normal and he was offering her some fancy French cuisine.

"It's not delicious." She objected, raising her head a little. "I've tasted it before, remember?"

"Well, you're starving. Kind of literally. It'll be delicious, trust me."

Elena groaned, before burying her face in his chest again. "I don't know, Damon."

"We could wait. But at least now you're still capable of making the decision for yourself. If we wait any longer you might get a little, you know, _crazy_."

"I _am _crazy." She nodded. "I need daylight. I need a ticking clock. I need to be not here."

"If we prioritize, I think it's safe to say that what you need right _now_ is food."

Boy, was he right. But there was a difference between actual food and what he had to offer.

"Some fries." Elena dreamed out loud, closing her eyes for this. "And a burger."

"No pickles." He added.

"No pickles." She agreed, smiling that he remembered.

"What else?"

"Cake. Or some chocolate."

She could almost taste the sweetness in her mouth.

"What kind of chocolate?"

"The kind that'll instantly melt on your tongue."

He nodded in approval, smiling a little.

"You think I'll ever eat any of that again?" She dared to ask, opening her eyes again.

"You're the eternal optimist." Damon shrugged. "You better not start doubting yourself now."

Elena sat up a little, brushing through her hair with her right hand. The act took up a lot of her energy. She sighed loudly, pulling her legs up to her chest.

"Let's do it." She said. "I'm done feeling like this."

Damon sat up too and investigated her face for a second. "You sure?"

"I don't have a choice." Elena shrugged.

He nodded, before bringing his wrist to his mouth. Elena watched him with genuine interest and flinched a little when she saw him bite down. Damon didn't seem to be bothered as he lowered his arm, two red drops becoming apparent on his wrist. The drops quickly developed into a small stream, slowly rolling down.

"Bon appétit." Damon offered.

The faint nauseous feeling Elena had been experiencing for a while now, became worse at the sight of the blood. Even though her body was screaming for something to make her feel better, her instincts still objected to what was offered to her. Nevertheless, her hands reached out. She took his lower arm and slowly brought it to her mouth. She hesitated a second, before pressing his wrist against her lips. She needed another second, before opening her mouth and allowing the blood in. The drops of blood were salty, as expected, on her tongue. When the first drop of blood reached her throat, she eagerly swallowed, knowing it would make her feel better. More blood dripped into her mouth, without her even trying. She swallowed again. And again. Then she pushed his arm away from her, swallowing one last time and closing her eyes afterwards.

"You okay?" He asked, softly.

She opened her eyes again and nodded as she looked up at him, trying to smile. He smiled back, his hand reaching out to her and his thumb gently wiping her lips. Her first instinct was to turn away, but she didn't. She just didn't. Damon took his hand back and brought his thumb to his mouth, licking off the blood he'd just wiped away.

"Thank you." She said, softly.

Damon shrugged. "Don't mention it."

She took in a deep breath.

"I could use a little water. Bad aftertaste."

He smirked. "I'd be offended, but don't have the energy to. How about some coffee?"

"Yes, please." She smiled sincerely as she suddenly felt the energy flowing through her veins again.

"I'll be right back." He promised.

She nodded again. Damon touched her knee for a second, before getting up off the bed. Elena watched him leave the bedroom before retreating back into the fluffy pillows, but kicking off the covers. She wasn't cold anymore. In fact, she wasn't anything anymore. She felt fine. Better than fine. She didn't remember feeling like this last time she had tasted Damon's blood. Probably because then the difference hadn't been that big between before and after the blood entered her system. She crossed her arms in some sort of contentment. None of this was really a step forward, but at least now she had the energy to focus on something else than the hunger. On something more substantial. On something that would actually help them. Assuming there _was_ something that would actually help them.

When all of a sudden the darkness surrounded her, she didn't shriek like last time. In fact, she stayed somewhat calm, other than the fact that her heartbeat sped up a little.

"Damon!" She called out.

"I'm on it!" His comforting voice responded.

Another black-out. No need to panic. She reached out to the covers again though. Somehow that made her feel a little saver. Damn, she hated darkness. She looked around, but her eyes hadn't adjusted yet and she couldn't make out anything. She tried to listen closely, hoping to hear Damon. Her head shot up when she heard footsteps coming from the hallway.

"Damon?" She asked softly, focusing on where she knew the doorway had to be.

"Just give me another second!" He responded and Elena instantly shot into panic mode when she heard his voice come from downstairs.

The footsteps became louder and were obviously getting closer. She closed her eyes for a second, praying they would go away, hoping she was just imagining it. That her mind her was playing tricks on her after being locked up for too long. That maybe the vampire blood in her system was having some weird side effects. When she opened her eyes again she was just in time to see a shadow pass the doorway she was now able to make out in the darkness. She brought her hand to her mouth, suppressing her urge to scream.

Just then the lights went on again and everything seemed normal. It was if nothing had happened. She sighed in relief, her eyes still focused on the doorway.

"Damon!" She yelled, not knowing what else to do.

This time he instantly appeared in the doorway and by then Elena was already next to the bed, her eyes big and a scared expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, having picked up on the panic in her voice.

"I saw somebody." She breathed heavily. "There was somebody in the hallway. I heard footsteps and saw something."

"The footsteps weren't you?" He frowned.

She shook her head. Damon instantly turned around and looked down the hallway. He started walking up and down the hallway, leaving Elena with her heart racing in the big bedroom. She heard how he opened and closed doors here and there, before appearing in the doorway again.

"There's nobody." He assured her.

She shook her head again. "No. There has to be. I saw something, Damon. Somebody. I'm sure of it."

"I believe you."

"Thank God you fixed the lights." She sighed.

"I didn't." Damon admitted. "I tried, but it didn't work. They just went on again."

Elena and Damon locked eyes. What was going on this time?

"I really, really hate this spell." She then stated. "And that'd be the understatement of the century."

Damon nodded. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. No need to panic."

Easy for him to say. He hadn't seen it. The thoughts even sounded bitter in her head.

"You heard the footsteps, right?"

"I thought it was you." Damon nodded.

"I'm not comfortable with this." She sighed. "That was just really creepy. And the darkness…"

"It's gone now." He assured her. "Let's just go downstairs. Coffee is ready."

Elena nodded slowly, remembering a time when coffee had indeed been the solution to pretty much anything. Not anymore. She was about to follow him out of the room when the lights flickered. Elena stopped dead in her tracks, fearing the worst. Within a few seconds things had gone back to normal and the lights were just on again. Damon looked around to face her and smiled.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." He smirked, but his eyes betrayed that he didn't really think it was amusing. He was trying to keep her calm and she kind of loved him for it.

"I think I maybe did just now. And I just really hate the dark." She pouted. "Especially when there are creepy things crawling around in said darkness."

She tried to make it sound casual in an appropriate reaction to his attempt at keeping her calm. She knew he didn't buy it for a second.

"Come on." He nodded in the directions of the stairs. "Don't worry about it. You know I'll protect you."

She didn't answer him immediately as she watched him walk towards the staircase.

"Yeah, I know." She said softly, knowing he heard it, before catching up with him, following him down, neither one of them mentioning this again.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena's body tensed up when the lights went off again.

"Not again." She murmured.

This was the third time since Damon had poured her coffee. It only lasted about thirty seconds, but this fact didn't make her feel any better. She felt Damon's hand on hers, like the two times before, a sign he was still sitting across from her. She was certain not even thirty seconds had passed when the lights went on again. She let out a sigh of relief as she looked up at Damon. In the light it felt somewhat uncomfortable to be touching, so she quickly took her hand back.

"You know." He started. "I was wrong before. The damsel in distress-thing looks kind of good on you."

"It's not funny." She told him. "I swear I saw something upstairs."

He hesitated a second. "…We're locked in here, Elena. Nobody can get in or out. I believe you _thought_ you saw something, but…"

Her head shot up. "You don't believe me?"

"I'm not saying that. I just don't think there's anything in here."

She nodded slowly, getting a little annoyed by the tone in his voice. "Which is pretty much the same as saying you don't believe me. You said you heard the footsteps too. I was in bed, Damon. They weren't mine."

"Alright." He gave in. "Sorry. You're right."

She sighed, taking her cup of coffee in hand again. She realized that she wasn't feeling any better. Sure, the hunger was gone and she felt strong and she could tell her senses were somewhat heightened, but that uneasy feeling that had taken over her body a long time ago was still there and it was conflicting with the strength. On top of all that, she could tell her thinking was going wrong. She couldn't get things right in her head. It felt like she had to push through an invisible barrier to think straight and it was getting harder to do so.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked.

She slowly shook her head as she took a sip from her coffee. "No, I'm not alright. I'm on edge. I'm losing it."

She had no idea what was causing her to admit this, but it was out before she knew it. She blamed the invisible barrier. It made her forget to think before she spoke.

"You're fine." He tried to comfort her, but they both knew how useless those words were.

"I feel like I have to use all the strength in my body to stop myself from getting a major panic attack." She explained. "How come you're so calm?"

"I'm not calm." He admitted.

"What if the lights go off? For real?" Elena dared to ask.

"Then we'll deal with it."

He almost sounded confident. Almost.

"I won't." She stated. "Then I'm done. It's already bad enough the way it is. Not knowing what time it is or how long we've been in here and what's going to happen. If the lights go off and I can't even see anymore, it'll push me off the edge."

Damon didn't respond to that, but he looked down like he was deep in thought. Then the lights flickered again and everything went dark around them. Elena closed her eyes, forcing herself to stay calm. The constant black-outs were messing with her head and were pushing her closer to the edge she'd just mentioned to Damon. When she opened her eyes again it was still dark. She wondered why Damon hadn't reached out to her like the three times before. She felt the urge to take the initiative and take his hand, but she didn't.

All of sudden she heard how Damon's chair moved and she felt a gush of wind pass her.

"Damon!" She called out in sheer panic as she turned around, trying to see what was going on. Naturally, the darkness around her prevented her from seeing anything. She heard some noises coming from the stairs and her heartbeat sped up. When she felt something light brush against her face, she shrieked in shock and fear. Something that sounded like a soft giggle came from the other end of the kitchen. Her head shot up in that direction, but she couldn't see what it was. Then the lights went on again. There was nothing to be seen in the corner where the giggling had come from and the seat across from her was empty.

"Damon!" She yelled out again, turning back to the stairs.

She'd rarely been this happy to see anybody when she saw him coming down the stairs. The panicked expression on his face quickly made her happiness fade though. She got up from the chair.

"Where did you go?" She asked him as he entered the kitchen, but not waiting long enough to hear his answer. "There was someone in here, Damon. Like a little girl. She touched me and she…laughed."

"Layla."He breathed heavily.

"Who's Layla? What's going on, Damon?"

"We were joined by some of my old friends from the other side." He spoke bitterly as he walked back to his seat. "They disappeared when the lights went back on."

"Why would…" Elena started, bringing a hand to her forehead, not even sure where that sentence was going.

"Darkness is darkness, Elena." Damon then spoke. "It makes whatever is in the darkness around us cross over."

"You come up with that theory pretty quickly."

"It's not rocket science." Damon shrugged. "This whole thing is turning into a damn carnival ride."

"But why now? We've been sleeping in the dark since day one in here. They never appeared before."

"The book mentioned very clearly that unless we solve our problems in time we'll die a horrible death. Maybe this is the start of that. Maybe we're running out of time."

"And the girl? Layla?"

Damon threw her a look, trying to act casual. "Well, she doesn't want you to come out and play."

"And what _does_ she want, Damon? And what did you see just now?"

"Elena." He spoke up, sighing. "You're asking the wrong questions. In fact, there's only one question important now: how do we get out of here? We need an answer to that. And we need it soon."

"We don't have that answer." Elena whispered.

"Then you better pray those lights stay on." Damon shrugged.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: Ugh. Ugh. Not good, I know. Blegh. I'll fix it. Next chapter will be better****. I know this, because I've already started writing it and it's flowing like before. I think. Hopefully. **

**Steffanie**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries.**

**A/N: Aw, I love how I can do no wrong in your eyes! You're all way too kind, but yeah…maybe I'm a little too insecure. ;-) Thanks for all your great reviews and I seriously love those of you who suggested I should write a book. That's pretty much the biggest compliment of all! One of you left a review after the last chapter that said: cue to Elena's breakdown. Well, here it is. Sort of. I guess you could call it a breakdown. ;-) Enjoy!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 9:**

Elena was on the floor in Stefan's bedroom, her back resting against the wall. She had her knees pulled to her chest and was holding a flashlight in hand. She was staring ahead of her in the darkness and was startled when somebody appeared next to her, knowing she could no longer be sure it was Damon, even though the lights were on. She had almost gotten to her feet, then got the confirmation it was just him.

"Hey." He started.

"Hey." She answered, unenthusiastically.

He hesitated for a second, then sat down next to her, their shoulders touching. They sat like that in silence for a little while.

"What's with the flashlight?" Damon then asked, nodding towards the object in her hand that she was clicking on and off now, shining light on the darkness.

Elena shrugged. "Just a theory. They disappear every time the lights go on, right? This is light."

"Could work." He nodded. "But the lights have been on for hours now."

"I'm not taking any chances."

"You might want to be careful with those batteries." Damon suggested as he watched how she continued to click the flashlight on and off.

"I have spare batteries in my pockets. Stefan had them in a drawer." She explained.

"My responsible, younger brother." He nodded, smirking a little. "Leave it to him to have a supply of batteries stashed away somewhere."

Somewhat unexpectedly, Elena rested her head on Damon's shoulder. She put the flashlight down next to her as she took his arm with both hands, pulling him closer.

"You okay?" He asked, looking down on the face resting on his shoulder.

"No." She answered truthfully. "I'm not okay."

"How come?"

She looked up at him in surprise. "You're seriously asking me that?"

He shrugged. "Even I ask stupid questions sometimes."

Elena couldn't help but smile a little at that, before crawling up against him, staring ahead of her again.

"But you're feeling okay?" He broke the silence once again. "Physically?"

She nodded slowly. "Your blood is still doing it's job."

"Yeah. I wanted to thank you for that." Damon suddenly started, sitting up a little, clearing his throat.

"Thank _me_? What for?" She asked, now also sitting up, only their shoulders touching now.

She saw how he was obviously struggling with the answer to that question. He didn't look at her as he eventually answered.

"For trusting me enough to drink my blood."

Elena looked at him from the corner of her eye, surprised at these words.

"And I want you to know it's still your decision, even with the recent…developments." He concluded.

"You think it should be now? You think we're in too much danger?" She asked. "You think I should turn? That it might be our only chance of getting out?"

Damon shifted a little before answering. "I think it should still be your decision. It's none of my business."

"Except that it is." Elena sighed. "Your life's at stake too."

"Nice pun." He smirked. "But I'm already dead, Elena. And besides, those hell creatures didn't get me last time. They won't get me now. I'm kind of up for a good fight."

"So you don't think I'm being selfish?"

"Selfish because you don't want to die? How's that selfish?" Damon asked. "I look back on it now and I wish I would've taken a little bit more time taking my decision. I wanted to turn to be with the girl of my dreams who turned out to be the Queen Bitch herself. It seemed like a good enough reason at the time, but if I could go back and do it again…"

"You wouldn't have? You would've given up eternal life?" Elena asked, intrigued by his words.

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Maybe not. But it's certainly not something I want to force on you. You need to make that decision on your own terms. For the right reasons. That's all I'm saying."

Elena was genuinely surprised by this speech, unable to get how he could be so understanding when his life could very well be depending on her decision. She knew Damon better than he thought and this just seemed completely unlike him. Or maybe she was wrong. Maybe this was more like him than she wanted to admit. Maybe there was more to him than she'd ever given him credit for. She moved her head to face him, her hand reaching out to his face, her fingertips carefully resting on his cheek.

"I trust you." She then whispered. "More than ever before."

Damon's eyes showed he was surprised by her touch and words, but he didn't speak. Elena considered her next move for what could only have been a second, before slowly leaning in. Damon didn't do the same, but stayed just like that as she gently placed a kiss on his lips. It was short and sweet. Their eyes locked as she moved her face away from him. He didn't let her though as it was now his turn to pull her into a kiss. Elena had been expecting it, but surprised herself when she found herself kissing him back, without even giving it a second of thought.

Just as she was about to push away any reservations she had left, the floor started to shake underneath them, causing them to break the kiss in surprise. The shaking quickly became worse as the twosome struggled to their feet. Elena's gaze immediately went to the darkness as she remembered the shaking from a few days ago when the darkness had moved in on her after Damon had jumped into hell.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, everything went back to normal. Elena's gaze went to Damon who seemed to be just as confused and surprised as she was.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Earthquake?" Damon tried, sarcastically.

She looked around the bedroom, scanning it for a change or perhaps even a clue. She wandered over to the bed and the darkness behind it. Then it became clear to her as she turned back to Damon in surprise.

"What?" He asked, not understanding.

"It moved away." She exclaimed. "Only a little, but it moved away."

Damon approached her and looked down at the edge of darkness, frowning while doing so.

"You sure?"

"Yes!" Elena responded, enthusiastically. "It used to reach to the third floorboard from this side of the bed. I know, because I've looked at it a million times. It's the fifth floorboard now. Just look."

It was hard to deny her logic, since the darkness indeed reached to the fifth floorboard now. Damon looked up at Elena again. Did something positive just happen? For the first time since they got locked in?

"We're on the right path." Elena smiled. "For real."

Damon was unable to hide a faint smirk as he nodded slowly. "I think we should make out a little more. Maybe even involve a little nudity."

She instantly noticed the teasing look in his eyes as she chuckled and stepped forward, hitting him on the chest. "I don't think it was the kissing. It's me trusting you."

"Maybe. But it won't hurt if we try the kissing-bit a little more." He now smirked.

She shook her head, smiling. "I'm telling you, it was me telling you I trust you."

"Yeah and you can say that thirty more times, but it's already out there. Not going to help us any more now."

"Well, maybe we need to say more." Elena suggested. "Good things. Compliments. Whatever."

"I don't think it's the saying it that caused this. It's that you felt it." Damon stated and she knew he was right. "So how sure are we that the kissing didn't help? On a scale from 1 to 10? Because the way I see it, anything above 5 means we should try that again."

She shot him a look.

"Yeah, you can give me that look." Damon started, chuckling. "But I'm dead serious."

"This look is also dead serious." Elena told him, but still smiling.

"Alright. Fair enough." He agreed, putting his hands in his pockets. "But you know where to find me if you change your mind."

He started to walk in the direction of the doorway. Elena frowned.

"Where are you going?" She called after him.

"Bed. I'm tired."

She hesitated as she watched him disappear around the corner.

"I'm not staying here alone!" Elena decided. "What if the creepiness starts again?"

"Then come with." His carefree voice came from the hallway.

She contemplated this for a while, feeling bouncy and excited at the new development, but still scared to death the hell creatures would return. Then she hurried over to the doorway.

"Bring the flashlight." Damon called out from his room.

She changed directions, grabbing the flashlight from the floor, before hurrying out of the door. No way she was spending the night on her own.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena locked Damon's bedroom door behind her, before turning around. It was dark in the room, except for the two lights on the nightstands.

"You're locking the door?" Damon asked. "You really think that's going to keep them out?"

He was standing near the bed, watching her with amusement. Elena walked over to the bed, putting the flashlight on the nightstand.

"Maybe not. But what if it _will_ keep them out and we didn't even try?"

"Good point." He nodded.

Damon then pulled his shirt over his head, carelessly tossing it aside. Elena had to catch her breath as she watched him, instinctively turning her back to him as she saw how his hands moved to his jeans. She sat down on the bed.

Damon chuckled. "You're such a prude."

"You know, you _could_ keep a shirt on in bed tonight. Considering how I'll be joining you." She spoke, ignoring his comment.

"Hey, that was your decision." He disagreed. "My bed, my rules, remember? And you know you love the view."

"We'll be sleeping." She spoke up. "My eyes will be closed. So what view?"

"And yet you're not denying you love watching me with no shirt on."

Elena sighed and shook her head, smiling only a little. She felt how the covers moved and felt secure enough to turn back around, getting up from the bed. Damon watched her with sincere enjoyment from the bed. He had very conveniently only pulled the covers up to his waist and Elena had to admit it was difficult to keep her eyes on his face.

"You're sleeping with your clothes on?" He teased.

She chuckled softly, amused by his attitude. It was obvious their spirits had been lifted for the moment and she liked how it meant that Damon was back to his teasing ways.

"Turn around." She ordered him.

"Make me." He challenged her, smirking.

"Damon…"

"I could turn off the lights if you like." He offered.

"And you'd still be able to see perfectly thanks to your vampire vision." She sighed.

"I didn't say it was a _great_ suggestion." Damon shrugged. "Come on, Elena. Are you really that prudish?"

"I am if you're watching me like that." She shot back. "Just look the other way."

"It's nothing I haven't seen before. Hate to break it to you, but I've seen a million girls naked over the years. There's nothing special about it anymore."

"Then you won't mind turning around. Nothing special, right? You clearly don't think you're missing out on anything." She decided, giving him a look, a hint of bitterness involuntarily shining through her voice.

"And now you're offended." He continued. "So I'll do you a favor: I'll look. You can prove me wrong and show me I would've been missing out."

"Well, look at how that worked out." She stated sarcastically, still somewhat amused.

"Worked out pretty well, I'd say." He agreed, that impossible grin still plastered on his face.

Elena pondered her next move. She really wasn't prudish, but it felt wrong to undress in front of him like this, him watching her every move. She seriously considered just going into the bathroom and undress there, but that would mean that she'd still have to walk back to the bed half naked. Not an option. She knew there was no way she'd get Damon to turn around and she also realized he'd already seen her semi-naked when she'd attacked him with his pillow and she'd only been dressed in a tank top and shorts. She'd left the shorts in Stefan's room, so they weren't an option either and she asked herself how bad it'd be to have him see her in her tank top and panties. Then she decided, pulling her shirt over her head at rapid speed, revealing her tank top. She let her jeans drop to her ankles, stepped out of them and crawled under the covers as fast as she could, hoping she'd at the very least limited his time to take a peek. She turned to him and gave him a satisfied look, knowing she'd solved this the best she could.

"Clever." He nodded. "Yet risqué. I like it."

Elena didn't reply to this as she moved around in the big bed, trying to find a comfortable position.

"You're excited." Damon noticed.

"We finally got a lucky break." She noticed. "So yes, I'm excited."

"Still doesn't mean we're getting out any time soon or _at all_. Or that the friendly creatures from hell won't get us."

She turned on her side. "Don't ruin my good mood." She told him, smiling, not allowing him to get her down. "I need it to not go crazy."

"Okay." Damon nodded. "I won't. We'll just sleep."

"Okay."

"I'd say: 'don't let the bedbugs bite you', but it's honestly not the bedbugs we should be worried about."

Elena involuntarily chuckled and reached over to hit him on his chest again. Damon saw her hand coming and took her fingers in his own hand, pulling it to his chest. She was startled for a second, but relaxed when she felt his warm chest underneath the back of her hand, so she allowed him to keep it there. She once again shifted a little, trying to get comfortable, ending up with her head against his shoulder. She turned on her side and felt his soft lips on her forehead after he turned his head towards her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation for a second. Unaware of what she was doing or why she was doing it, but simply following her instincts and doing what felt right, she tilted her head back a little. His lips were now gently kissing the tip of her nose and she smoothly leaned back a little more, his lips finally coming in contact with hers. She moved up a little, making it easier for them both. She was surprised at how quickly and easily, things got passionate. Damon let go of her hand, lowering it to her waist, pulling her closer as their kiss deepened. Elena tried to catch her breath when he reached under her top and she felt his touch on her bare skin. She wasn't sure when it happened, but all of a sudden all her inhibitions had disappeared. She eagerly moved in on him, placing her hands on his delicious chest, kissing him with so much force she nearly startled herself.

They rolled over so she was on top of him and she took that moment to take control as her hands feverishly ran over his body and she hungrily continued to kiss him, biting his lip softly when the opportunity presented itself, immediately evoking a reaction out of him. She was already straddling him when he managed to sit up without breaking their touching lips and she wrapped her legs around his waist in an attempt to pull him even closer, his hands going through her hair.

When they eventually came up for air, their eyes opened and locked, their bodies still in a tight and intimate embrace. Elena's heartbeat sped up when it hit her that this was actually happening. Was it comfort? Something else? Did it matter? She'd let herself go unlike ever before and instead of feeling guilt, she felt pure excitement.

Damon stared back at her with wondering eyes, curious to see how far she was willing to go. Elena didn't allow herself to ponder this as she pulled her tank top over her head, throwing it aside. She didn't know what had gotten into her and strongly suspected she could be losing her mind, but simply didn't care. She attacked his lips again which he eagerly accepted. His lips quickly moved from her mouth to her chin and neck, lowering to her collarbone, causing her to moan softly as his hands went over her bare back, effortlessly unhooking her bra. His kisses moved lower to her breasts as her bra straps slid down her shoulders. She was holding on to him and pulling him closer, placing soft and gentle kisses on his shoulder.

She was doing this. For real. It sent a shiver down her spine, which he easily picked up on and he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over she was on her back again.

"You sure about this?" He then asked.

She simply nodded and with that it was done. She was giving in and there was no way back now. When his mouth covered hers again, the decision was made.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena wasn't sure what had woken her, but something obviously had. She knew she was awake, but was unwilling to open her eyes yet. She was unsure what she was afraid of, but she knew that when she opened her eyes, everything that had happened last night became that much more real. Not to mention that it would force her to face the tricky situation they were still stuck in. When she was asleep, when her eyes were closed, it was that much easier to deal with it. She was actually surprised she'd been able to sleep at all and she knew she had Damon to thank for that. He hadn't gone into her head this time, but just having him near had a soothing effect on her. He'd protect her, she was convinced of that.

"Elena!" Damon's panicked voice suddenly sounded and it startled her enough to open her eyes.

Her eyes widened in fear when right in front of her face, the maniacal grin of a man appeared. She wanted to scream, but her voice was gone. Her gaze lowered a little to the big, shiny silver knife he was holding over her chest.

All of this took place within a second. Then, with no warning at all, he stabbed.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: Well, I'm kind of pleased with this chapter! It's not the longest, but I'm glad I was able to add a little romance that I know you've been waiting for. I feel it's understandable too. Perhaps she is just going a little crazy, but I also feel it's obvious that it's more than that. Hope you agree. Hope it didn't feel rushed. And yes, cliffhanger! Will update soon!**

**Stef**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I have to admit, all of you hating on me for that cliffhanger kind of made smile. I guess I'm a little evil. ;-) This is a pretty short chapter, but it just had to stand on it's own. There is at least one more chapter coming after this one, but…that's it. One or two more chapters and then I'll be done for real. Sad moment, right? Sad, but I know it's a good move. They've been through enough, don't you think? **

**I love your reviews so much! It's so funny to read them, because you all have so many different opinions. Some people like certain things that others didn't like so much, so it's going to be challenging to make you all happy with what's going to happen. I think I'll just stick to my own plan. ;-) **

**And to those asking me about my age, regarding the love-scene**** in the previous chapter: I'm 22. I'm allowed to write this. :-p But it was pretty tame, right? I don't like writing anything too explicit. I'm such a prude! ;-)**

**Just a little shout-out to zvforever and xXIceshadowXx, who are no doubt my toughest critics, yet still so incredibly sweet and wonderful! You've been so helpful through all this and not afraid to point out the things you didn't like. I don't know you two at all, but I owe you a lot! If there's ever anything I can do for you, let me know! ;-) Oh and to hollandsengeltje: Je bent echt een engeltje! Bedankt voor je wijze woorden!**

**Now,**** will Elena turn? The million dollar question! Read on to find out. Sort of. Again, this is something you don't seem to agree on. Some of you want her to turn, others don't… Yeah. Definitely sticking to my own plan! **

**Well, enjoy. Hopefully!**

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Chapter 10:**

Elena wasn't sure what had woken her, but something obviously had. She knew she was awake, but was unwilling to open her eyes yet. She was unsure what she was afraid of, but she knew that when she opened her eyes, everything that had happened last night became that much more real. Not to mention that it would force her to face the tricky situation they were still stuck in. When she was asleep, when her eyes were closed, it was that much easier to deal with it. She was actually surprised she'd been able to sleep at all and she knew she had Damon to thank for that. He hadn't gone into her head this time, but just having him near had a soothing effect on her. He'd protect her, she was convinced of that.

"Elena!" Damon's panicked voice suddenly sounded and it startled her enough to open her eyes.

Her eyes widened in fear when right in front of her face, the maniacal grin of a man appeared. She wanted to scream, but her voice was gone. Her gaze lowered a little to the big, shiny silver knife he was holding over her chest.

All of this took place within a second. Then, with no warning at all, he stabbed.

Her mind didn't have enough time to comprehend what was happening, but she realized what was going on well enough to know that the next thing she should feel was pain. And the pain came, but somehow didn't seem to fit the situation. She had closed her eyes at some point and when she opened them she was just in time to see the knife getting pulled out of the mattress. Elena now noticed she was rolled over on Damon's side of the bed and she knew not more than a second had passed. She figured Damon must've pulled her aside just in time. Or did he? Her gaze went to her abdomen, fearing the worst, but she didn't get the time to fully see it as she suddenly went flying through the room. She landed against the wall and felt an instant pain in her back and stomach as if everything had been forced together. She felt dizzy for a second, black spots appearing before her eyes. When she looked up she saw the struggle that was going on between Damon and a man in a white coat that was covered in red stains. The butcher, she instantly thought. They were still on the bed and Elena saw how Damon had crawled on top of the butcher, his hands wrapped around the man's throat.

"The flashlight!" Damon called out to her.

Elena struggled to her feet, holding on to the wall while doing so. Where was the damn flashlight? Her gaze went to the nightstand where she'd left it, but the nightstand had tumbled over in the chaos. She scanned the room as she tried to drown out the noises coming from the bed. She could tell from the sounds that the roles had reversed and Damon was in trouble now. She was afraid to look, but also too busy, still trying to locate the flashlight. Light was their only hope right now. Then she noticed it, on the floor by the door, right next to…legs. Legs? Her gaze moved up and Elena stumbled backwards when she noticed the little blonde girl with the pigtails, staring straight at her. Layla. She was dressed in what once upon time had been a beautiful red dress, but was now ragged and dirty. Red drops were dripping from the bottom of it onto the hard wooden floor and it was then that it hit Elena that the red dress was soaked with blood. Layla's eyes were nothing short of black and absolutely terrifying, but Elena couldn't look away.

"Elena!" Damon groaned.

Her head shot up his way and her eyes widened in shock and fear when she saw that Damon was now on the floor, the maniacal butcher slowly sinking the knife into his chest. Elena's first instinct was to rush up to Damon and help him, but her last bit of common sense stopped her. This wouldn't kill him, he'd be fine. She needed the flashlight. Now. Damon yelled out in pain, but Elena couldn't let it get to her.

Her gaze went back to Layla, who was still in the same spot, staring at her.

"Elena?" Her sweet girly voice sounded. "Will you come play with me?"

The voice gave Elena the chills, but she forced herself to run up to the terrifying girl, even though every bone in her body told her to run the other way. The girl's hand reached out to her, but Elena ducked away, reaching for the flashlight on the floor. Suddenly she was turned around, her back resting against the door. Elena looked up and Layla was standing right in front of her. Layla tilted her head a little.

"You'll make a pretty doll." The young girl stated.

"I'm not a doll." Elena reacted softly, trying to crawl further backwards, desperate to get away from Layla.

"You will be when I'm done with you." Layla almost sang.

Elena looked around, trying to find the flashlight again, but before she was able to locate it, she was pulled forward. She looked down and was shocked to see that a rope had appeared around her neck. Layla was pulling it tighter and tighter in an almost rhythmic pace with more strength than a little girl should possess. Elena clenched her hands around the rope, trying to pull it off, but failing miserably. The girl chuckled innocently as she pulled again. Elena struggled for air, almost gagging as she felt the blood flow towards her head. The black spots reappeared before her eyes as she got lightheaded, well aware that she could pass out at any second now. In utter and complete desperation, Elena's hands kept trying to loosen the rope. She could hear her fingernails break and in that second the severity of the situation dawned on her. She was choking. For real. She'd die and wasn't even sure if Damon's blood was still in her system. So she'd die and would probably never wake up.

Elena wasn't sure what had gotten into her, but a sudden flow of strength went through her body. Adrenaline, she realized. Without thinking it through, she kicked the girl in front of her right in the stomach. The girl, who was unusually strong, but still just a little girl, went flying backwards, letting go of the rope. She landed against the bed. Elena coughed heavily when she was finally able to breathe again, eagerly allowing the air back into her lungs. She removed the rope and threw it aside, then struggled to find the flashlight. From the corner of her eye she saw how Layla had gotten up again. Then she finally felt the flashlight that she was still blindly trying to find. She grabbed it just when Layla appeared right next to her.

"That wasn't very nice." Layla pouted.

Elena shrieked in surprise, but pointed the flashlight at Layla, clicking it on. Nothing happened. Layla giggled, her hand reaching out again and wrapping it around Elena's throat. The strength in the little girl's hand was enormous and Elena was choking again, instinctively bringing her free hand to her throat. She then forced herself to focus on the flashlight again. She hit the light on the wooden floor, then pointed it again. This time a bright light appeared and Layla screamed in an out of this world high-pitched voice. Then she vanished.

Elena leaned back against the door again in relief, her hand touching her throat. She was coughing and grasping for air, trying to calm herself down. Her gaze went to her left where Damon was now chained to the wall, the butcher slicing away. A deafening scream filled the room. Elena reached for the flashlight again in absolute horror. The light seemed to absorb the butcher whose head turned towards her. He looked around in confusion, then disappeared. The chains vanished too and Damon fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

She crawled towards him, too weak and too shaken up to stand. Damon was on his back, lying in a pool of his own blood. By the time she reached him, she was almost hyperventilating and in the middle of a full-blown way overdue panic attack. Her breaths were shallow and short as she grabbed him by the arms. Damon looked up at her, obviously weak and in pain.

"Elena…" He murmured.

"I'm here. I'm here. I'm here." She told him, repeating the phrase a few times as if she couldn't believe it herself. Her eyes went over his body and she was shocked to see how hurt he was. "Oh God."

"…I'm okay…" Damon assured her, sitting up a little.

Elena saw the deep cuts spread out all over his body. The mad butcher had obviously enjoyed himself. The panic attack seemed to be getting the better of her as her shallow breathing made her hyperventilate even more.

"You can't die." She muttered, out of breath. "You can't die, Damon. Don't die."

Now it was Damon's turn to reach out to her, taking her wrists in hand.

"I'm not going to die. I'll be fine. Just fine."

Elena dropped herself against the wall, looking down at herself. She was covered in blood, not thinking rationally enough to consider the option it was Damon's blood. She grew convinced that the mad butcher had stabbed her and her hands covered her stomach, desperately trying to find the fatal cut that she knew had to be there.

"Oh God." She exclaimed again, her hands red from the blood now.

Damon was sitting up now, right next to her, bringing his hand to her cheek.

"You're okay." He told her. "He didn't get you. You're alright."

"No." She objected. "No."

"Yes." He told her, moving his hand to her chin and forcing her to look at him. "You're fine. I'm fine. Everything's okay."

She brought her hand to her forehead, unaware she was spreading the blood from her hands to her she burst into tears, reaching out to Damon and pulling him close. He allowed her to rest her chin on his shoulder, although he was obviously in more pain because of it.

"Ssshh." He tried to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her back.

"I'm alright." She whispered, trying to convince herself more than anything. "We're alright."

"We're alright." He confirmed.

She nodded slowly as she let go of him again, looking at him. She was calming down a little, now able to take deeper breaths. Suddenly Damon frowned, his gaze moving to her neck. She instinctively tilted her head backwards a little, revealing her neck to him.

"Jesus." Damon stated.

He brought his hand to her cheek, pulling her towards him again. Her face was buried in his neck now as she felt his soft lips on the side of her head.

"Thank God you're okay." He whispered.

She held on to his back with both hands, closing her eyes at his words.

"I love you." She then murmured, surprising herself, but not regretting the words.

"Yeah. Almost dying will do that to you." Damon nodded, the sarcasm back in his voice.

She pulled back, looking up at him, shaking her head. "No. I love you."

"Okay." He nodded, frowning.

"Do you love me?" She asked.

Damon seemed to hesitate, as he looked her straight in the eye. "Yeah. I love you. Always. Not just after we almost died."

"This isn't because…" She started to object, but Damon cut her off with a kiss.

"It's okay." He told her after he broke the kiss. "We'll talk about it later."

Elena couldn't find the strength to object any further.

"We need blood." Damon decided, laying down again, groaning a little.

She suddenly felt how banged up her body was from hitting the wall and how sore her neck was after almost choking.

" Alright." She nodded, trying to get to her feet. "I'll get you some blood from downstairs."

"No. You need blood first." Damon objected. "You'll feel better. You're still starving, remember? Let's not take any risks."

By then Elena was already on her feet, leaning against the wall, trying to keep her balance. She felt incredibly weak, unable to determine if it was from everything that had happened or if Damon was right and his blood had left her system and she was back to starving.

"Okay." She agreed.

Just then she almost dropped to her knees and the last bit of strength left her body. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach and hunched over in surprise and pain, wrapping her arms around her body. A short shriek escaped her lips. Elena was confused as to what caused the pain. Her head shot up towards Damon, who looked at her, a worried expression on his face.

"You okay?" He asked.

She was about to nod and assure him she'd be fine, when the room started to spin around her. A feeling of disorientation, dizziness and nausea washed over her as she reached out to the wall, knowing she was about to fall down. Her legs then gave up and she went down. Next thing she knew, everything went black.

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: Ugh. Is it even possible to write an 'I love you'-moment without going into the cliché? Considering 'I love you' is already a cliché? I hate writing those moments, but it just needed to happen. You're allowed to hate it. ****The question is: did she really mean it or was Damon, right?**

**And yes, another cliffhanger. Sort**** of. Will they both be okay? I haven't decided yet. No, that's a lie. I have. Almost. But it can still go both ways. I usually decide while writing. ;-) **

**I love this smiley. ;-) Sorry about that. **

**Oh and for those who are on Twitter, it'd be nice to follow you, since I don't have a lot of TVD fans on Twitter. So, if you're interested, please add me (steffanie1988). Thanks!**

**Well, I'll be back soon!**

**Stef**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries.**

**A/N: Okay. Final chapter! How sad. ****I really am sad, but also a little relieved. It's rare that I start writing something and continue to be motivated enough to finish it. Or at the very least finish writing something and still be enjoying it so much. Could it be the power of Delena? ;-) It has to be, right? So…there's a little shout-out to the heartbreaking scene in 2x08 in here. You'll pick up on it. And I think this answers all the major questions that are still left to be answered. The rest of them are left for you to fill in to your own satisfaction. Isn't that nice of me? Nice or maybe just lazy. Whatever.**

**I hope this doesn't disappoint. That would suck. **

-x-x-x-x-

**Chapter 11:**

Elena knew something was off when she felt a soft wind blowing against her face and through her hair. She hadn't felt wind in forever. She inhaled deeply, keeping her eyes closed and was surprised to realize what she was breathing in. It was fresh air. Her hands were on the ground next to her body and she allowed her fingertips to feel her surroundings. It didn't take her long to identify it as grass.

"You awake?" Damon's voice sounded.

" Yeah." She replied, softly.

"Then open your eyes."

She instantly followed his instruction, too curious not to. The darkness crept up around her and Elena swallowed, fearing the worst, yet she wasn't able to make sense of it all. She managed to make out the dark figure sitting on the ground beside her and knew it was him.

"Where are we? What's going on?"

Damon nodded to something in front of them and Elena sat up a little. She looked over to what was in front of them and it took her a few seconds to connect the dots. The small lights in front of her, the gigantic house, the fresh air around her, the grass she was sitting on.

"Is that…?"

"Nice to look at it from this side for once, don't you think?" Damon asked.

"We got out?" She asked, her eyes growing big at the realization.

"We got out."

She stopped breathing, taking in what he was telling her. They got out? How? What happened? Last thing she remembered was being in Damon's bedroom right after they got attacked by the mad butcher and the little girl. Everything else was gone. She remembered getting to her feet, feeling like hell of a sudden and then…

"Oh God. Did I die?" She suddenly exclaimed, looking down at herself as if the answer to that question would be visible. "Am I a vampire? Is that how we got out?"

Her gaze went up to Damon in horror, desperately needing him to answer her as the panic grew inside of her.

"Do you feel dead?"

"Damon! Don't do this." She objected. "What happened?"

"You passed out." He finally spoke the words. "From pain or hunger or stress, I don't know."

Elena breathed out in relief, closing her eyes for a second. Guess it was now clear where she really stood on the whole turning-thing. She'd been terrified for a second.

"What happened? How did we get out?" Her follow-up questions were, still not understanding.

"Right after you passed out, the darkness disappeared." Damon explained. "So I don't know. My best guess is that we cheated the spell. You passed out, so maybe you stopped feeling for a second. If we'd known the solution had been that easy…"

She took in this new information, trying to comprehend what he was saying. Could it really have been that easy? Just not thinking or feeling for a single second due to passing out?

"I told you I loved you." She then suggested. "Maybe…"

"Ah yes." Damon nodded, the sarcasm easily detectable in his voice. "I'm sure we cheated the spell with a lie."

Elena was surprised at how carelessly he dismissed the suggestion, but didn't feel brave enough to object. Her head was filled with too many thoughts and feeling to even convince herself that it hadn't been a lie, let alone him. Right now she didn't know. She just didn't know.

"So that's it? All I had to do was pass out?"

"Apparently." He shrugged. "Who knows? Important thing is that we're out. For good."

She nodded slowly, her gaze moving back to the boarding house. It looked harmless and beautiful in the dim light and it was hard to believe that place had been a house of horrors to her for that long.

"Are you okay?" She then asked, turning back to Damon.

"Had some blood." He assured her. "I'm as good as new. You?"

She tried to move her left arm that had been sore right before she passed out from hitting the wall and moved her head from left to right, convinced the movement would cause her to feel the aftermath of almost choking to death. However, she felt fine. No pain, no uneasy feeling, no hunger, no headache.

"I gave you some of my blood while you were out." Damon then spoke at her surprised reaction. "Figured you could use it."

"Thanks." She murmured.

"Still doesn't mean you don't need to eat." He added.

"I know." Elena nodded.

"So? You up for that burger we talked about? The chocolate?"

She smiled at the anticipation of eating an actual meal. She looked up and saw he was returning the smile. His arm then reached out and pulled her closer. It was a nice gesture where they finally displayed a little emotion. Elena didn't know if it was because they were simply incapable of comprehending everything that happened, but she didn't feel the way she imagined she would. No bliss. No enthusiasm. Not even happiness. Just contentment. But that was good enough. Damon kissed her hair.

"We made it." She whispered, looking over at the big house.

"Looks like it." Damon nodded.

An unexpected chuckle escaped her throat. They were out. The nightmare was over. For real.

"Come on, trooper. Time to get you home." He told her, ending the sentimental moment.

"Ugh. I'm in so much trouble. Jenna is going to ground me until the next century. I've got a feeling I'm way past my curfew." Elena sighed, loving how that didn't even seem like a really bad thing.

Damon chuckled softly as he released his hold on her and helped her to her feet. "Well, at least you'll be locked up in a new environment. It will be a nice change of scenery. This one was getting a little old."

"Just a little." She agreed, smiling.

-x-x-x-x-

Elena was still smiling when they finally reached her house. The walk over had been something out of a dream. She didn't think she'd ever get to see Mystic Falls again or walk home through the familiar town. Damon had suggested to take the car, but she'd refused. She wanted to walk and she'd loved it. She had thrown on the hood-y Damon had brought from the boarding house to cover up her bloodstained shirt. Damon himself had changed into some clean clothes and she had to admit that he looked as if nothing had happened. Like they'd just come home after a night of partying instead of spending days stuck in a nightmare. She didn't know what time it was, but the darkness revealed that it was still night or at the very latest early in the morning. Elena reached into the pocket of her jeans, getting out her house keys that she'd kept in there this entire time in case they would get out at some point. Towards the end it had been wishful thinking more than anything, but even then she hadn't been able to take them out. Now she was glad.

They climbed the steps to the front door in silence, just like they'd spent the walk over in almost complete silence. Elena stuck the keys in the lock of the door and twisted it in a simple motion, even enjoying this, since she didn't think she'd ever get to do it again. The door opened and she turned to Damon, hesitant about what would be next. Did they have to say goodbye? But where would he go? Back to boarding house? Did she even want him to go? Just as she was about to open her mouth without knowing what words would come out, noises came from inside the house and when Elena turned her head towards the sounds, she saw how Jenna emerged from the stairs in her bathrobe.

"Elena?" Jenna asked, surprised.

"Jenna!" Elena exclaimed, smiling and happy to see her aunt.

Jenna was downstairs now and Elena instinctively stepped forward, pulling her aunt into a big hug. Who would've thought she'd ever see her again?

"What are you doing here?" Jenna asked, chuckling at Elena's enthusiasm. She then noticed Damon and stepped back, frowning. "Better question: what's _he _doing here?"

"Hello Jenna." Damon nodded. "Nice to see you."

Jenna looked at Elena in confusion. "I didn't expect you back so soon! And at this time. How was the trip?"

Trip? Elena looked back at her aunt, trying to make sense of those words. What trip? Why wasn't Jenna upset? She'd been gone for a long, long time.

"Great!" Damon answered instead of Elena and her gaze moved to him. It was obvious he was just playing along and didn't have a clue as to what Jenna was talking about either.

Another frown line appeared in Jenna's forehead as her gaze moved from Elena to Damon.

"Did you go too?" She asked, obvious surprise shining through her voice.

"No." A voice then came from behind them. "We just picked her up."

Elena turned around and saw Stefan climbing the steps towards the house. He was holding an overnight bag that she quickly identified as her own. While things became more confusing with every passing second, Elena found herself incredibly relieved to see Stefan. Her smile grew wider, but she resisted the urge to run up to him and throw her arms around him. Apparently she'd been on a trip and he'd picked her up. At least that's what Jenna thought. A hug would be weird. Stefan had reached the door now and placed her bag on the porch, flashing Elena one of his irresistible smiles. She sighed and gladly returned the smile.

"Sorry we woke you." Stefan continued, looking at Jenna. "Mr. Saltzman decided to cut the trip short. Really bad weather over there. So they left last night and decided to keep driving."

"Oh." Jenna nodded, obviously deep in thought. "Why didn't you tell me on the phone yesterday?"

It took Elena a second to realize the question was directed at her and she looked back at her aunt. She'd called Jenna last night? How was that even possible? She understood by now that Stefan had covered up her disappearance with some story about a trip, but not knowing the details made her feel uneasy. She hated lying. Especially when she didn't know what the lie meant. And how was it possible she called Jenna? She quickly shrugged off the questions, knowing she had to find a way to play along.

"Uh…the weather suddenly changed last night." She stuttered, hoping that'd be an acceptable answer.

"It was a last minute decision." Stefan added.

Jenna seemed to accept this answer as she nodded. "Okay. Well, glad you're home, Elena. Next time it'd be nice if you'd tell me about a school fieldtrip _before _you left. Giving me a phone call at work telling me you'll be gone for a week, isn't really the way to go."

"I'm sorry." Elena offered.

"I know. You explained it on the phone. I'm definitely buying you a day planner tomorrow. I just don't understand how you could forget."

"Me neither." Elena sighed. "Won't happen again."

"I sure hope so. You're lucky I'm the cool aunt." Jenna joked. She then looked at her watch. "Well, I can still get a good six hours of sleep before having to get up. You can tell me all about the trip tomorrow, okay?"

"Absolutely."

Jenna gave Elena a smile. She then turned to the Salvatore brothers.

"Thanks for getting her home alright. The both of you."

"Not a problem." Damon answered.

"You're welcome." Stefan nodded.

"Sweet dreams for later." She then told Elena, before turning around and heading back up the stairs. Elena watched her aunt until she had reached upstairs, before turning to back around to the brothers. Damon's gaze met hers, but she found herself looking away. Next thing she knew, she felt two strong arms around her and realized it was Stefan. She happily returned the hug, burying her face in his shoulder and taking in his familiar scent. He smelled so good.

"You okay?" Stefan whispered in her ear.

"Yeah." She assured him, lifting her head a little and resting her chin on his shoulder. She couldn't resist looking over Stefan's shoulder and found Damon staring back at her. Their gazes locked and a heavy feeling appeared in Elena's stomach. She hadn't thought this far ahead yet.

Stefan pulled away and leaned in to kiss her. Instinctively she turned her cheek and his lips landed there. She couldn't bring herself to look at him as he let go of her, but she knew that Stefan could sense something was wrong. Just then another person rushed down from the stairs and she was pulled into another hug. She was surprised, but then realized it was Jeremy.

"You're back!" He breathed in her neck.

"Yup. In one piece."

"You okay?" He asked as he let go of her and investigated her face.

"Fine." She promised him as her gaze went to the brothers and was just in time to see how Stefan pulled Damon in a quick hug. Now she felt even worse.

"She needs to eat." Damon then spoke, looking away from his brother to Elena and giving her a look.

"I'll fix you something." Jeremy offered, already heading towards the kitchen.

The threesome was still standing in the doorway. Damon had his hands in his pockets and looked at the twosome standing in front of him. Elena and Stefan looked back at him. Awkward. Then Damon followed Jeremy into the kitchen. Again, Elena couldn't bring herself to look at Stefan and almost flinched when she felt his hand on her lower back as he guided her inside. He closed the door behind them, then took her hand in his and she reluctantly allowed him to guide her to the kitchen. _Crap_. What was she going to do?

She let go of Stefan's hand as they entered the kitchen and she wasn't oblivious to the look Damon was giving her, but she chose to ignore it. Damon was leaning on the counter while Jeremy was standing in front of the refrigerator.

"I can heat you up some leftover mac and cheese?" He suggested.

"Perfect." Elena nodded.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Stefan then asked her again and Elena nodded as she sat down at the counter as far away from Damon as possible.

"What happened?" Jeremy asked as Elena watched him as he scooped the mac and cheese from the plastic container onto a plate and placed it in the microwave. Jeremy was the neutral factor in this situation and she knew she could only look at him right now.

"_Long_ story." Damon assured Jeremy.

"What did you tell Jenna?" Elena then asked. "What's with the phone calls?"

"Bonnie." Stefan answered. "She used a spell. Ric came up with the idea that we could tell Jenna he took some kids on a fieldtrip. Seemed like the easiest solution to explain why you were gone. I stayed with Ric. All we had to do was make sure Ric didn't run into Jenna."

Elena nodded slowly.

"It was a fieldtrip, alright." Damon stated. "How did you know we got out?"

Stefan hesitated for a second. "I went by the house. I checked a few times everyday. I was able to look inside now and I realized you were out."

Jeremy placed the steaming plate of food in front of Elena and handed her a fork.

"Thanks." She murmured.

"Eat." Damon told her.

Elena nodded. "Don't worry, I will."

"Why does she need to eat?" Stefan asked and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was worried.

"We ran out of food a few days ago." Damon explained. "Good thing we got out when we did."

Elena took a bite from the mac and cheese and her body immediately responded. She needed this.

"You must be starving." Jeremy said.

"Sort of." Elena shrugged, taking another bite.

"After not eating for days you're only sort of starving?" Her brother continued to ask. "Impressive."

"Damon gave her blood." Stefan then stated, obviously fitting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Elena finally looked up at Stefan. She saw the worry and confusion in her eyes and suddenly found it difficult to keep eating. The feeling in her stomach seemed to make the hunger disappear.

"It was that or death." Damon shrugged.

"Well, that's just gross." Jeremy decided.

"Says the boy who voluntarily drank the blood of his dead vampire girlfriend."

"Yeah, I did. It's how I know it's gross." Jeremy shot back.

"It's no big deal." Elena spoke up, focusing on her food again. "Damon's right. It was that or death."

A silence fell as the men in the room watched Elena eat. Jeremy seated himself at the counter next to his sister.

"So what did you two do while you were stuck in there? Must've been boring."

Oh boy. Elena felt Damon's eyes on her, but refused to look at him.

"It wasn't that bad." She told her little brother. "A lot of stuff happened. Not much time to be bored."

"Well, what kind of stuff happened?" Jeremy continued to ask.

"Between Elena almost starving and us trying to get out, we were almost _sucked _into hell, I actually _jumped _into hell, we were both almost _killed_ by hell and that was about it. Fun times. It had nice hell-theme." Damon answered the question.

"Memories for life." Elena nodded, sarcastically.

"We tried to get you out." Stefan then spoke. "We did. But…"

"It's okay." Elena interrupted him, finally looking up at him again and trying to smile. "We got out. That's all that matters."

"Bonnie figured out what spell it was though." He continued, staring back at Elena.

"So did we." Damon jumped in. "Thanks to your book. We owe you one for that, little brother."

Elena couldn't look away as Stefan's eyes were still locked with hers. She knew him and she knew exactly what was going through his head.

"Seemed to fit you two. With the hatred." Stefan said.

Elena took a deep breath, knowing where this was going.

"We thought so too." Damon nodded, casually.

"The only way out was to find peace with each other. How did that work out? Sounded impossible to Bonnie and me."

"We cheated." The older Salvatore then blurted.

Elena closed her eyes at those words and wanted to strangle him. Really? Just like that? She could feel how even Jeremy tensed up beside her.

"…the spell." Damon then clarified. "We cheated the spell. Geez. Come on, people."

She opened her eyes again and saw how Stefan seemed a little calmer now.

"How?" Jeremy asked.

"Elena passed out. She stopped feeling for a second and the spell was lifted."

"Just like that?" Stefan asked, now focusing on his brother and looking at him suspiciously.

"Just like that." Damon nodded. "Don't worry, baby brother. She never stopped hating me."

Elena suddenly couldn't take it anymore. All of this was wrong on so many levels. She was done eating and dropped the fork on her place, the sound drawing the attention of the three men in the room.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." She announced.

She desperately needed to be alone. All these questions were confusing her even more and she felt like the most horrible person on the planet right now.

"Do you want me to stay?" Stefan asked, a sudden sweetness in his voice.

She forced herself to look at him and give him a reassuring smile.

"That's sweet, but I could use a little time alone."

"I understand." He nodded, returning the smile.

His hand reached out to her cheek and softly stroke it. Elena closed her eyes, remembering how much she had longed for his touch.

"Damon and I'll just go home." Stefan continued, taking back his hand.

"Okay. No." Damon objected. "No way I'm ever spending another night in there."

"Damon…" Stefan sighed.

"I'm serious. Hell no. I'll go to a motel. Maybe even knock on my buddy Ric's door. He's got a bed available now you're gone. I'm sure he'll be delighted to have me."

"Fine." The younger Salvatore agreed, but obviously annoyed.

"You can stay here." Elena suddenly found herself speaking up, regretting the words once they were out, because they were out for everyone to hear, but not really regretting the question. It seemed weird to have to say goodbye to him. "On the couch."

Great. She really had to add that? Of course he'd be staying on the couch. Where else? She felt Stefan's eyes on her, but didn't look at him. Instead she was looking at the other brother, almost pleading with him.

"If that's okay with you, Jer?" Elena then remembered. God, how insane was this? She'd almost forgotten about what happened.

"Fine with me. I've got my ring." Jeremy shrugged.

"As if that will stop me." Damon objected, rolling his eyes.

"Damon…" Elena reasoned with him. "Not funny. _Never _funny."

"Right. Sorry. I'll behave."

"I'm not worried." Jeremy assured Elena.

"So you're staying?" She asked Damon, hating how she sounded so eager.

"Okay." He nodded, obviously understanding her reluctance to say goodbye.

"Just for tonight. I mean, I understand you can't go back to the boarding house. You can figure something out tomorrow."

"Jenna is going to freak out." Jeremy contributed to the conversation. "Just saying."

"I'll be gone before she wakes up." Damon shrugged.

Elena sighed, the situation tense again in the kitchen. "I'll get you a pillow and a blanket."

"I'll do it." Jeremy offered. "You just go to sleep. You need it."

"Thanks, Jer."

Jeremy nodded and made his way into the living room. Elena half expected Damon to follow her little brother, but he didn't. He just stood there, watching her. She took a deep breath, then turned around to face Stefan.

"I'm sorry about all this." She offered. "I'm just really tired."

"It's okay. I'll come over tomorrow morning."

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks."

"Kind of looking forward to spending the night in my own bed again." Stefan smiled back and Elena knew he was trying to make it sound like he was okay with all this. She knew the other questions would come later. She was dreading them already.

"If or when you're being strangled by an insane little girl or you find yourself chained to a wall and gutted like a fish by a mad butcher: give me a call. I've got some unfinished business with them." Damon offered.

"The spell is gone. They'll be gone. Stefan will be fine." Elena stated.

"We'll see about that. One way or another those two are going to get what they deserve."

Elena chose to ignore Damon, the things that happened at the house the last thing she wanted to think about. She stepped forward and pulled Stefan into a hug. It was a sincere gesture. Despite everything she truly was glad to see him again, even though the immense guilt she was experiencing seemed to overshadow this feeling at the moment.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Stefan told her, wrapping his arms around her.

Elena closed her eyes. He was sorry? As if she didn't feel bad enough already.

"I'm fine. It wasn't that bad." She assured him.

"No, it was a regular walk in the park." Damon added. "You know, if walk meant 'nightmare' and park was a synonym for 'hell'."

Elena pulled away from Stefan and turned around to throw Damon a look.

"Can we not do this right now?" She pleaded with him. "We made it out. We're okay."

Damon nodded, locking eyes with her. "Yeah, we are."

"Thank you." She whispered.

"You're welcome."

Elena nodded, feeling like wrapping his arms around him and knowing she would've gotten away with that before, but also knowing that hugging him right now would be too much to bear with Stefan in the same room.

"I'll see you around." The older of the Salvatores told her, giving her a nod.

"Yeah."

Her head turned to Stefan, immediately noticing the worried expression on his face. She smiled at him.

"See you tomorrow." She offered.

"I'll be here." Stefan nodded.

Elena took a deep breath and with that she left the kitchen, making her way to the stairs. This had hardly been the reunion with her boyfriend she had imagined right after she got locked up with Damon. But things had changed. Not just because of what had happened. She'd changed. She started climbing the stairs and heard Stefan's voice coming from the kitchen.

"She wants to be alone, Damon. You better not come near her tonight."

"Was that a pathetic and failed attempt at a threat?" Damon's cocky voice sounded.

"I mean it. Leave her alone."

Elena closed her eyes as she reached the top of the stairs. She'd just rolled from one nightmare into the other. She walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. The silence surrounded her and she sighed. This sucked.

-x-x-x-x-

She was unsure about how long she'd been twisting and turning in bed when she finally opened her eyes again. Her bed had felt like heaven when she'd crawled into it, but falling asleep seemed to be impossible, no matter how tired she was. The ticking from the clock on her wall, a sound she'd been longing for, was now making her nervous. It was a reminder that morning would come eventually and she'd have to face Stefan again. Sweet, perfect Stefan who seemed well aware that something was up, but had been still been so protective and caring. She rolled on her back and stared up at the ceiling. She'd heard Jeremy go to bed a while back and had heard Stefan leave through the front door. She closed her eyes and could practically picture Damon downstairs on the couch. She wondered if he was able to sleep. Or was he also staring at the ceiling, thinking similar thoughts to hers? It was crazy, but she felt like talking to him. Like being near him. Nearer. Even after all this time together, she still wasn't ready to be away from him.

Before she realized what she was doing, she found herself standing next to her bed. She considered just going to the bathroom and ignoring the crazy voices in her head telling her to go downstairs, but she ended up tip-toeing to the door. She figured Jeremy and Jenna were fast asleep, but wasn't taking any chances. She reached the hallway and looked down the stairs. A dim light came from the living room and she realized Damon was still awake. She took a deep breath.

"Can't stay away, huh?" His soft, but smug voice then sounded.

She closed her eyes. Of course he'd heard her. She started to head down the stairs.

"Don't be like this." She told him.

She'd reached the bottom step now and hesitated just a second, before heading towards the living room. Damon didn't reply. She walked in on him, just as he put down the book he'd been reading. He was lying on the couch, still fully dressed, but with the blanket covering him. He immediately looked up and their eyes locked as Elena stopped dead in her tracks.

"Nice PJ's." He offered.

She looked down and smiled a little.

"Thanks."

"Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head as her gaze went back to the stairway.

"They're asleep." Damon assured her, sitting up a little, making room on the couch. He motioned for her to come closer and sit down. She brought her hand to her forehead as she looked at the small space he'd cleared for her. If she sat down, they'd be close. Real close. Being close to him had become a natural thing while they were locked up, but now…

So she continued to stand at the same spot as her eyes moved back to Damon.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who felt horrible tonight."

"Can't say I particularly enjoyed deceiving my brother like that. Which I feel is a real sign of personal growth for me." He shrugged.

"I don't know what to do, Damon." She suddenly admitted, giving him a pleading look. She swallowed heavily and blinked away tears that had started to form in her eyes.

"Sleeping sounds like a good plan." He told her. "For now."

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Look…" Damon started, sitting up a little more. "I don't know what you want me to say."

Elena nodded, knowing that she wasn't really looking for him to tell her what to do. She walked over to one of the arm chairs and sat down, folding her hands together and looking down.

"Me passing out wasn't what broke the spell." She then spoke. "It couldn't have been."

Damon didn't reply right away. He seemed to take in these words. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because…" She started, forcing herself to look up at him while speaking the truth. "…I didn't stop feeling or thinking. Not for a single second. I had a dream."

"What kind of dream?"

She sighed.

"About us." She then admitted. "It took me a while to remember it, but it's still very clear in my head. I remember how everything went dark around me and I remember how right after that you appeared."

"Did it get all sexy after that?" He asked, smirking.

She couldn't help, but smile. "No. But it was nice. Better than nice. And it's how I know that I didn't stop feeling. I was dreaming. Vividly. About you."

Damon didn't say anything at first, but just looked at her. "Okay. So then we unknowingly cheated the spell in some other way."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Elena suddenly spoke up, frowning. "Why do you keep insisting that we cheated the spell?"

"What other option is there?"

Elena shook her head. "I told you I loved you. And you keep dismissing it like it's some joke or a lie. I tried to tell you that I meant it, but you keep dismissing it. Why do you do that?"

"Because I know you." Damon instantly replied. "And I know there's no way in hell someone like you could love someone like me. Ever."

"Well, then you're wrong." She shrugged. "There is a way. Especially in hell."

A silence fell as Elena looked down again. She was relieved that was out, but still confused as to what it all meant.

"I don't want to." She continued. "Love you, I mean."

"Been there, done that." He replied, sighing.

"And nothing's changed. I don't think. You're still unpredictable and dangerous and…"

"And that's exactly what you love about me."

Her head shot up and they looked at each other once again. "Maybe." She nodded.

"It's ironic." Damon stated.

"What is ironic?"

"Looks like we're stuck together." He shrugged. "Still."

Elena closed her eyes for a second. That sounded about right. She hadn't looked at it like that before. She sighed, before opening her eyes again and locking gazes with him. She saw something in his eyes she had rarely seen. Vulnerability. So much that it terrified him. And all she wanted to do was go up to him and kiss it away. Make it go better. Tell him that he could trust her, that she wouldn't hurt him. So she relied on that instinct as she got up from her chair and walked over to him. He seemed to get her intention as he lifted the blanket and allowed her to crawl on the couch next to him. He instantly covered her with the blanket and pulled her closer. Their noses were almost touching and Elena sighed.

"Is this what you want?" Damon asked and she easily picked up on the uncertainty and vulnerability in his voice. It was so unlike him, but fitted him so well.

She hesitated a second. "This is _all_ I want." She then nodded, more conviction in her voice than ever before.

Damon smirked a little, relaxing a little. "You're about to get yourself in a _lot_ of trouble."

She chuckled softly. "Let's deal with that in the morning, okay?"

He nodded and she smiled at him. Then she felt his warm hand on her bare hip as he pulled her closer. She instantly buried her face in his neck and snuggled up against him. She closed her eyes, taking in his scent. It was remarkable how fast she landed into a peaceful dream.

THE END

-x-x-x-x-

**A/N: Well? Was this okay? I really, really hope so. Please just let me know and don't hesitate to be honest. I'm not sure I love how this turned out. I liked the final scene though. And I liked writing Damon like this. Maybe you would've expected him to be mean to Stefan about what happened between him and Elena, rub it in, drop not so subtle hints or whatever, but I feel that he knew that it was real between him and Elena and that he understood the delicate situation she was in. Also, the "I guess we're stuck together"-line was probably a little cliché, but I wanted to use it, because it's so true. And writing Damon so vulnerable like he was in the last scene was a little difficult, but I think that Damon is capable of being vulnerable like that, we just haven't seen it to that extent yet. Should we ever get so lucky that we get to see Damon/Elena together on the show, I think he'll get like that. I mean, really opening up and letting her in will probably be the biggest risk he ever takes. I mean, at the moment he'd rather have Elena forget that he loves her than ever be that vulnerable. Sure, he disguised it as saying that he did it for her, because she deserves better and I'm sure that's partly true, but I also think right now he's just not ready. But that's just my opinion.**

**I'm going to miss this story and I'm going to miss all of you leaving such wonderful reviews. They are the first thing I check when I wake up. Such a great way to start the day. Hopefully I'll be back soon with more Delena goodness!**

**Last but not least I'd like to thank my coffeemaker and my huge coffee mug and just coffee in general. They made this story possible. Nothing like a bitter, dark, hot beverage served in a soup bowl-sized cup to keep me going when it comes to this story. Seriously. I wouldn't have been able to write this without my caffeine rush. **

**And thank you to every single one of you for reading and liking this story! I can't even begin to tell you how much that means to me. **

**Stef**


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